When Life Gives You Lemons
by Ranko twin
Summary: AU YAOI Make orange juice. Yuugi was fine with staying under the radar most of his high school life. All of that changes when his best friend starts to date one of the most popular guys in school. And what makes matters worse is his best friend's boyfriend's best friend happens to be Yuugi's worst nemisis. Yuugi's life is about to get much more complicated. R
1. Chapter 1

**Ranko: Hello everyone! I hope every one of you lovely readers is having a good holiday so far! I know I am!**

**Yami: Not.**

**Ranko: Shut up, Yami!**

**Yuugi: Are we really going to start this new story off with fighting? I thought that we could start a clean slate.**

**Ranko&Yami: (silence)**

**Yuugi: You're right, who am I kidding? **

**Ranko: So this is the story that was voted for on the poll and I hope that you guys enjoy it! Do the disclaimer, slave!**

**Yami: Ranko twin does not own anything involving Yu-Gi-Oh.**

**Ranko: Enjoy!**

-/-

The pale morning light flooded in through the open skylight in the room. A thick summer heat came from outside and an appreciated cool breeze passed into the room, fluttering a few papers that were stacked precariously on the desk below the skylight. There were two fans on high blowing throughout the room, one happened to be pointing straight at the bed where a figure slept, wild locks peaked out from under the covers.

There was an annoying blare of an alarm clock; it rattled the desk as it shook. The figure in the bed moaned and grumbled in his sleep. A limp arm appeared from underneath the covers and clicked the alarm clock off, silencing the consistent ringing.

The figure continued to grumble in annoyance at the fact he had to get up. He pushed himself into a sitting position and stretched his arms above his head; his nightshirt rode up at the motion, showing off the boy's smooth, white abdomen.

The boy swung his legs over the edge of the bed and pushed himself into a standing position, dragging his feet across the floor to get to his dresser that was at the other side of the room. He pulled out his school uniform and began his drudge to the bathroom so he could begin his day.

The delicious smells of breakfast tickled his sense. From the kitchen across the apartment, he heard an elderly voice shout, "Yuugi, are you up yet?"

The boy, now introduced as Yuugi, sighed and shook his head. "Yes, Grandpa, I'm about to take a shower, I'll be there soon."

Yuugi closed the bathroom door behind him and begin to strip himself of his night clothes when he heard his Grandpa yell, "You can't take a shower unless you want to be late on you first day as a junior."

Yuugi immediately froze. Once he recovered from his shock he shouted, "What?" He sprinted across the hallway back in his room and noticed the time.

_8 : 00_

His alarm must have been going off for quite some time before he finally awoke to the sound of it.

"Yes," he heard his grandfather say. "Ryou has been waiting outside the Game Shop for more than ten minutes now."

Yuugi was jumping on the balls of his feet in a nervous panic. He tripped over his own two feet in his hurry back to the bathroom and pulled on his school uniform as fast as he could. "Damn it!" he shouted, just loud enough for his grandfather to hear it.

"Yuugi Motou!"

Yuugi rolled his eyes as he began the search for his school satchel. What did the man expect from him? He was a teenager, of course he would swear every now and then, it was natural when he was surrounded by so many people who did. "I'm sorry, Gramps!" Not a moment later he found his school bag under a pile of dirty clothes that desperately needed to be washed.

He shouted in triumph as he grabbed it and ran to the kitchen. He grabbed a piece of toast just as it popped out of the toaster and pecked his grandfather on the cheek, then taking a bite of toast. "Bye, Gramps! See you after school!" he cried with a mouthful of toast.

Yuugi sprinted down the steps, nearly falling down them and pulled his sneakers on quickly before running out the door and unintentionally slamming it behind him. He saw his best friend, Ryou Bakura, waiting for him in front of the store, looking just as nervous as Yuugi felt, either from starting a new school year or the fact they may be late.

Ryou was a very shy and modest boy that most people liked. He was the kind of kid that didn't try to be popular but there was a certain trait about him that drew everyone too him. He was very petite and had delicate feminine features for a boy.

"Good morning, Yuu—" but Ryou was cut off before he could finish his usual morning greeting. Yuugi grabbed the boy by the arm and dragged him along behind him and they tool off running down the street.

"We are going to be so late!" the shorter boy shouted in reply as he pumped his legs to run faster, Ryou tripping behind him.

Fortunately, they weren't late; they were just in time, the two got there right before they closed the gate. But that didn't mean they didn't stop running. They couldn't be late for their first class. Yuugi was notorious for his tardiness and failing grades, he couldn't have a bad mark on his first day of school.

The two boys had to split up because they had different homeroom teachers. Yuugi stopped in front of the classroom door and took a deep breath before grabbing the handle and sliding the door open. He had hoped to make a sneaky entrance; hopefully the teacher would be teaching a lesson and wouldn't notice him. But, alas, Yuugi was not that lucky.

The teacher seemed to be waiting for him to come, she was leaning against her podium, standing completely still and just watching Yuugi silently. The whole class was also quiet and sitting impatiently.

"It was so nice of you to join us, Yuugi," the teacher said with a pleasant smile but her words were like venom.

Yuugi internally groaned when he realized who his homeroom teacher would be, Miss Mai Kujaku. Yuugi had never had her before but he had heard from other students that she was known to be the strictest and meanest if one of her students broke a rule, and she was a stickler for rules.

Unfortunately for Yuugi, tardiness was looked down upon in this school, and the proper punishment was…

Miss Mai hefted two large buckets filled to the brim with water and held them out to Yuugi. Her eyes were narrowed to slits and were burning a hole in Yuugi's forehead. "Go hold these buckets out in the hall for the rest of the period."

Yuugi's shoulders were hunched forward as he trudged up the aisles to get the buckets. He could a couple of the students snicker behind their hands as he left to go stand in the hall.

He faintly heard Kujaku-sensei say, "Well, then, let's begin…" before the door closed behind Yuugi.

_Later ~_

Yuugi massaged his stiff shoulders after the long period of time just holding those stupid water pales. Kujaku-sensei finally called him in after what felt like an eternity of standing out in that hall, right when the bell rang for lunch break. Yuugi gratefully put the pales down and rushed to get his satchel.

Now here he is, looking for Ryou so they could eat their lunch together. He really wished his friend had a better morning than he did. Yuugi finally spotted a shock of snow white hair, but what surprised him was to see two heads of white hair bob in the sea of students.

Yuugi stood on the tips of his toes, though that didn't help any; he was still too short to see over a crowd. Obviously, Ryou noticed Yuugi's spiky hair because the boy waved and rushed over to his friend, dragging another human body behind him.

Yuugi registered the indifferent expression, rust colored eyes, and spiked white hair; Bakura Dorobou. He was a long time friend of both Ryou and Yuugi; Bakura almost knew Ryou as long as Yuugi has.

Ryou and Yuugi had known each other since kindergarten; they were both the shy type and were later bullied because of their short statures or feminine features. The two boys looked out for each other since then, Yuugi being a bit tougher than Ryou.

Then along came Bakura in middle school. He joined Yuugi and Ryou's little group of two after he witnessed Ryou getting bullied in the school courtyard on the first day of school. He beat the bully up and saved Ryou, instantly gaining the other boy's trust and friendship.

Since the first moment he met Bakura, Ryou has had the largest crush on him. At first, when he was around Bakura, he would blush and stutter like an idiot. As the years went by he had been able to control his reactions when he was around the man. Personally, Yuugi didn't see what Ryou saw in Bakura, but his friend would get over this phase eventually … he hoped.

"Hey, Yuugi," Ryou greeted when he finally reached his shorter friend. "How was your morning?"

Yuugi inwardly groaned and if no one else was around he would probably bang his head against the wall … repeatedly. "It was great," he lied smoothly, clenching his teeth and forcing a smile. "And yours?"

Ryou's face flushed; Yuugi raised an eyebrow. "It was good," he said simply. "Anyway, Bakura invited me to sit and eat lunch with his group of friends today, do you want to come?" Bakura groaned, like coming to ask Yuugi that question was such a hassle.

Even though Bakura preferred and spent more time with Ryou, all three of the boys were good friends; Bakura just liked to tease Yuugi.

Yuugi's left eye twitched. Ryou was his only friend; unless Yuugi wanted to sit alone for lunch and attract bullies, which he didn't, he would have to sit with Bakura's friends. Yuugi really wanted to stay under the radar this year. He didn't want to come home with cuts and bruises like previous years.

"I would love to sit with you guys, if it's not too much trouble…" Yuugi trailed off.

"Actually—" Bakura began but was cut off when Ryou lightly elbowed him in the side; Ryou gave him a disapproving look and Bakura pulled off his best innocent face. "What? You know I'm just messing with the kid. Of course he can sit with us! Damn, you guys think I'm such a bad guy."

Ryou rolled his eyes at Bakura and helplessly shrugged his shoulders. "Okay," he sighed out. "Let's go, I'm starving!"

Bakura and Yuugi nodded in agreement. Bakura led the two other boys up to the roof where he and his friends usually spent the lunch hour. He pushed open the door and the sun shined brilliantly; Yuugi had to cover his eyes. Yuugi had never been on the school roof before but it was nice.

One could practically see all of Domino city from this high and the warmth of the sun accompanied by a gentle breeze felt nice.

And then came the obnoxious laughter.

Yuugi's left eye twitched and he turned to see a large group of teens, the only ones on the roof, being annoyingly loud and rambunctious. Bakura greeted his group of friends and ran to join them. Yuugi turned to Ryou and gave him a, you-got-me-into-this look. Ryou smiled, like he was telling Yuugi to make the best of it before walking over to join the rest of the teens at the edge of the roof.

Yuugi hesitantly joined them but not before scanning a few of the faces that he could see. Yuugi recoiled when he saw Anzu Mazaki, his ex-best friend. She turned her back on him when they got into high school, she would rather be at the top of the food chain than at the bottom with Yuugi and Ryou. She became one of the bullies and would verbally torment him for the first year of high school before just giving up and deciding to shun him.

Yuugi noticed a few other familiar faces. There was Katsuya Jounouchi, a really nice and friendly guy that knew practically everyone in the school, and Seto Kaiba, the CEO of one of the biggest gaming companies in the world and could sometimes be described as cold-hearted; polar opposites. Those two were the most well known and hottest couple of the year.

There was also Malik Ishtar, a student from that had transferred here from Egypt his second year. His attitude and appeal helped him fit right in from the beginning. Malik was definitely the one everyone wanted, boy or girl. But unfortunately, the blond was taken. He had a boyfriend, he was in Iraq though.

Then there was a face that got Yuugi's blood boiling in anger. The one person in the world that he actually hated.

Bakura began to introduce all of his friends to Yuugi and Ryou; each one seemed nice enough, except Anzu who just stuck her nose up in the air. They were all a lot nicer than Yuugi expected them to be.

"Did you forget about me, Bakura?" a deep, sultry, baritone voice spoke from the back of the group.

"Purposefully," Bakura said playfully. He went to the back and came back with another man.

He was tall and slender; he had long legs and a long torso. Yet he wasn't a twig, he was slightly muscular. He made their ugly school uniform look good. His facial features were sharp and angular, with a strong jaw. His eyes were a strange, hypnotic ruby color; they were slanted, making it appear he wore makeup. The strangest thing by far about this man was how similar his hair was to Yuugi's; the only difference was that his yellow bangs ran into his hair like lightning bolts.

"Yuugi, Ryou," Bakura said. "This is Yami Sennen. Yami, this is—"

"I knew who he is," Yami said, cutting his friend off. He pointed a slender finger at Yuugi who set his tiny shoulders back squarely. "We've met before."

"You have?" Bakura asked, surprised.

"Oh yes," Yami said, narrowing his eyes and smirking at the boy.

Yuugi scowled back at him. Yes, they have met before and Yuugi would rather that they never meet again. But, alas, fate is a cruel mistress. Yami was the type of person who got everything he wanted, objects or people, it didn't matter. If it caught his eye, it would be his. Unfortunately for Yuugi, his second year in high school, he was one of those things that Yami Sennen wanted.

_It was the end of the day and Yuugi the last one in his classroom. He had cleanup duty after school after he was late to class again. He would get an earful from his Grandpa when he got him. He was packing up the last of his things and just about to lock up the classroom when a voice stopped him. _

"_Yuugi Motou?"_

_Yuugi nearly jumped out of his skin; he was so surprised. He hadn't heard anyone come up behind him. He twirled around and saw Yami Sennen standing behind him. "O-oh! Sennen-kun, what can I do for you?"_

_Yami chuckled and advanced on Yuugi. "Please, call me Yami."_

_Yuugi's eyes widened in disbelief, not even noticing how close Yami was to him now. "Really?" Yami nodded pleasantly. "Alright, Y-Yami." Yuugi blushed furiously. _

_Yami chuckled against. "You are so cute," he said; Yuugi flushed a deeper shade of red. Then Yami's eyes narrowed seductively and leaned in closer, getting into Yuugi's personal space. "That's the name that you'll be screaming when I take you," Yami whispered in Yuugi's ear._

_Yuugi snapped awake from his hazy state immediately. "Wh-what?"_

"_I've been watching you, Yuugi, and I think that you are just so beautiful. I want you, I want you so bad," Yami whispered with a desperate need; Yuugi didn't want to know where that need lied. His lips latched on to Yuugi's neck and began to suck and kiss and nip. _

_Yuugi let out a surprised yell and would have fallen backwards if Yami wasn't trapping his body to his own. Yami pushed Yuugi up against a desk and sat him down on the surface of the desk. He took Yuugi's legs and wrapped them around his hips so he was straddling him. All the while, he continued to attack his neck. _

"_N-no, wait! I…I'm n-not gay…" Yuugi managed to get out between involuntary moans and pants. _

"_You will be after I'm done with you," Yami murmured against his neck. There was a dark purple bruise on the side of Yuugi's neck where Yami had been sucking. A hickey, to mark the boy as his; he laved the mark with his tongue and bit down on it._

_Yuugi shrieked and something in him snapped. His grabbed Yami's shoulders and began to try and push him away, but Yami was stronger than him. His legs flailed out, kicking at anything that came in proximity. _

"_No! Get off me! I don't want this! No!" Finally, Yuugi kicked Yami in the groin…hard. Yami gasped out in pain and keeled over, falling to his knees and bit his lip as the pain became worse with each movement. _

_Yuugi wasted no time; he grabbed his school bag and ran out of the classroom, off of school grounds, and all the way home. _

_Yami didn't follow him and did not approach him again. _

Yuugi glared at Yami once again. Yuugi remembered and obviously Yami remembered as well, because he was giving him the same look he gave him almost a year ago.

Yuugi refused to make eye contact all throughout the lunch period and just decided to talk to the people he knew were safe. It was much more enjoyable than he thought; he was afraid that they would be annoying and rude, but these people were the exact opposite.

It wasn't until after lunch ended did things get bad.

Yuugi was walking to his next class when someone grabbed his wrist and dragged him into the janitor's closet. He was pushed against the door, trapped between two muscular arms.

Ruby eyes peered at him through the darkness. "Long time, no see, Yuugi," a deep baritone voice said pleasantly.

'Oh, shit,' Yuugi thought.

-/-

**Ranko: This story is going to be fun!**

**Yami: I sound like such a terrible guy! I mean, come on, in this story I'm a selfish brat that almost raped someone because they weren't willing.**

**Yuugi: I'm sure that's what a lot of the readers are probably thinking but this is meant to be a cute, fun story, not anything like the novel 'Speak'.**

**Ranko: Which is very good, but Yuugi is right, if anyone of you are concerned this is going to be dark, its not. It is supposed to be fun and cute, it will get better.**

**Yuugi: Please leave nice long reviews!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Ranko: I'm so happy! I got more reviews than I thought I would get. And a big thanks you for everyone who favorited or followed this story!**

**Yuugi: Ranko first thought this story would be a flop then all the reviews came in.**

**Yami: And Ranko is going to answer all the reviews…though, I don't understand why.**

**Ranko: Shut up, Yami!**

**xChaoticDawnx:**** Thanks for the awesome review and making me feel loved!**

**jgrl68:**** Thanks for the review! And don't be afraid of pointing out any mistakes I made or if something doesn't make sense, it won't hurt my feelings =). About Degrassi, that was my own personal joke, it's not really going to be like Degrassi. Me and friends joke and say that Degrassi is overdramatized high school, so…sorry -.- Anyway, please continue to review!**

**Kyo lover with little sanity:**** Love you penname! . Anyway, thanks for the review! And I think that doing an Anzu redemption arc would be better than just bashing her. Even though I don't like her in the anime and manga, she has those good traits about her too. Thanks for the idea and please continue to review!**

**SincereJoyy:**** Thanks for the review! It's not really going to be like Degrassi, I was just joking because me and my friends think that Degrassi is overdramatized high school, and this is kinda what this story is going to be like. Yay, puzzleshipping! Please continue to review!**

**lilpopsplash:**** Thanks for the awesome review! Your wait is over because I bring forth the next chapter! Please continue to review!**

**happynewyear:**** Here it is! Please continue to review!**

**FanFicFanGurl101:**** Awesome penname! Continue to be your wanky self! If anyone questions it, just tell them, "The voices in my head don't like you." Haha, anyway, please continue to review (even though I'm crazy). **

**SokiKuro:**** Thanks for the awesome review! I'm glad you like the story so much! And I'm glad I didn't bore you to death with the introduction, I know how that feels. I know, grandpa is mean (not really ^^). And this story, I think I'm going to abuse Yuugi instead of Ryou for a change! Please continue to review!**

**Yuugi:…What?**

**Yami: Ranko twin owns nothing!**

**Yuugi: Did you say you were going to abuse my character, Ranko?**

**Ranko: Uh…Enjoy!**

**Yuugi: Damn it…**

-/-

Yuugi stood there for what felt like hours, just staring into Yami's eyes; it was about the only thing he could see in this darkness. The man's eyes were slanted and a lot closer than they were a moment ago, as if Yami was leaning his head in…

Yuugi felt his left eye twitch in annoyance. He could feel Yami's breath against his lips; a year ago, he would have been thrilled at this close proximity to Yami, considering he may have had a small crush on him, though Yuugi would rather not acknowledge that. Now that has changed, he didn't faint when he saw Yami smile or get all flustered when he was in the same room as him.

Now, he was just pissed.

Yuugi's hands clenched into fists and punched Yami in the gut. The man doubled over and his arms fell to wrap themselves around his torso. He groaned in pain and dropped to his knees. "Damn…for a little guy you sure know how to fight…"

Yuugi bit his lip to keep from screaming in rage. "Just be lucky I didn't kick you in the crotch like last time," Yuugi nearly hissed out. "What the hell?"

Yami looked up at Yuugi confusedly. "What?"

Yuugi ran his fingers through his hair to keep himself from exploding. "Why did you do it?"

Yami looked more confused as ever. "I could ask you the same thing, why are you so violent?"

Yuugi gaped at the taller man. "I'm not! I mean…" Yuugi sighed. "Why the hell did you drag me in the closest? I swear, if you try to do what you did to me the last time, I will personally make sure that you can never have children."

"And you say you aren't violent," Yami mumbled, he quickly shut up when Yuugi sent him another cold glare. "But do you really think I'm stupid enough to try and do something to you after what happened the last time?" Yuugi gave the man a look. Yami shrugged helplessly. "Okay, maybe I would, but not in such a public spot."

"And the classroom wasn't public?" Yuugi questioned; he couldn't tell whether his cheeks were burning from embarrassment or anger.

"It would have been if it was doing school hours, but everyone had gone home. Everyone goes to the supply closest every day multiple times a day. It is the worst place to have…" Yuugi leveled a glare at Yami. "Relations," the man finished. Yami shrugged helplessly. "But for some reason, all of my dates love coming here."

"You're sick," Yuugi said. "And you still haven't answered my question."

Yami shook his head and smiled. "You're sharp, much brighter than other people I have pursued. I guess that's why I like you so much." Yami shrugged.

Yuugi felt his cheeks burn hotter and thanked God that the lights were off. "Don't change the subject," Yuugi said. "And don't tell me about your past relationships either! I don't want to hear about it," Yuugi said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Yami smirked and rose to his feet. "Is someone jealous?"

Yuugi spluttered and backed away as Yami advanced towards him. He felt his back brush against the door and Yami was hovering over him, invading his personal space. Right back where they started. Yuugi gulped as Yami leaned his head in closer.

"Why would I be jealous of you? I rejected you, remember? I bet that's the first time that's happened to you," Yuugi mumbled the last part to himself.

"Yes, you did reject me and then you kicked me and took off. But I don't see that as a sign of you not liking me…" Yuugi could again feel Yami's breath tickling his lips. "I think you were just afraid, I came on too strong."

Yuugi gulped. "You think?"

"But now…" Yami trailed off. He sealed the distance between them, capturing Yuugi's lips and gently kissing him. Yuugi's eyes widened and he grabbed Yami's biceps and tried to shove him away.

"No, stop…!" Yami cut Yuugi off as he leaned in to kiss him harder. Yuugi struggled for a few more moments and then Yami wrapped his arms around Yuugi, imprisoning his arms to his side.

Yami opened Yuugi's mouth with his tongue and began to explore the boy's mouth eagerly, turning the kiss hot as Yami kissed Yuugi desperately, not able to get enough of the boy. The worst part about it was Yuugi found himself getting lost in the sweetness of the kiss.

It wasn't until he felt Yami's hands trail lower, past his hips, did he snap out of it. With all of his strength, Yuugi jerked himself out of Yami's arms and slapped the boy hard across the face, making a loud cracking noise.

Yuugi was breathing harshly, holding his hand against his rabidly beating heart. Yami didn't move, didn't look up to see Yuugi. When Yuugi finally regained his breath, he yelled, "What the hell is your problem? Why do you have to be such an immature playboy? You don't always get what you want and not everyone wants you! Can't you accept that, you conceited jerk? Just leave me alone!" Yuugi felt tears sting the back of his eyes and before he could stop them, they rolled down his cheeks steadily. "I am not just some toy that you can have and use and then thrown away when you're done! I am a person and I have feelings too!"

Yuugi's voice cracked a few times due to his crying. Before Yami could answer, he turned around and ran out of the closet, down the hall, and locked himself in the bathroom to cry his eyes out, not caring if he missed his next class.

_After school ~_

Yuugi sighed; he couldn't believe his day. 'Great way to kick off a new school year,' he thought dryly. He felt so tired and worn out; his eyes still hurt from crying. He couldn't wait to get home, flop down on his bed, and then just sleep until dinner.

He walked home alone today; Ryou said that he was busy and had to go straight home after school and didn't have the time to walk with Yuugi. The smaller boy felt his shoulders sag ever so slightly; just when he needed Ryou the most. Oh well, he would call him later and then they could talk.

He noticed how long and lonely the walk home was when he didn't have someone to walk with and talk with, especially when he needed to tell someone about his horrible day.

Suddenly, an arm was draped over his eyes and he was pulled back against a lean chest. Yuugi let out a surprised shout and began to struggled when he heard a soft chuckle. He was released and Yuugi whirled around to see the person who had snuck up on him. He came face to face with Katsuya Jounouchi and Seto Kaiba.

Jounouchi held up a hand in greeting and grinned goofily. "Hey," he said cheerfully; Seto nodded, which Yuugi assumed was his way of greeting people.

"Um, hi," Yuugi said, a bit apprehensively.

Jounouchi laughed whole-heartedly and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I'm sorry that I snuck up on you and startled you like that. You looked so lonely and sad; I thought you could use something to cheer you up."

"Apparently cheering people up means giving them heart attacks," Seto cut in smoothly.

Jounouchi's left eyes twitched. "Shut up, rich boy!"

Yuugi laughed; if he didn't know any better he would have thought those two were bitter rivals. "Well, thank you for thinking of me, but I'm fine really, just tired. Today has been a long day." It wasn't a total lie, he just happened to leave out a few key details.

Jounouchi nodded in understanding, ignoring Seto as he tugged on the blond's jacket impatiently, like a child waiting for his mother to quit talking so they could leave. "Hey, where's your little buddy? Ryou, right?" Jounouchi questioned.

Yuugi internally deflated at the mention of Ryou's name. "Yeah, it's Ryou. He said that he had things to do right after school and he didn't have time to walk with me today; it's no problem though."

Jounouchi and Seto exchanged looks, a silent conversation passing between the two; Yuugi felt left out and self-conscious. Finally, Jounouchi shrugged and smiled back at Yuugi. "Alright, well be careful, Yuugi. We'll see you tomorrow at lunch!" Jounouchi called as Seto dragged him away, down the opposite street Yuugi was taking.

Yuugi sighed. 'And I'm alone again,' he thought depressingly.

Yuugi made it home without any trouble and he hoped that he would be able to just sleep for an hour. He went to the back door and unlocked it. Halfway up the stairs he heard yelling and fighting; once in a while he could hear his grandpa's voice cut in.

Yuugi sighed, his parents were here; he recognized the sound of their voices, after all the times he had witnessed them get into a verbal battle he had nearly become immune to the yelling. But it still hurt when he saw the plain hate on both of their faces when they saw each other. Grandpa didn't want Yuugi to stay in a house like that so he took the boy in until custody was taken care of; currently he was fighting for Yuugi to stay with him permanently.

Yuugi trekked the rest of the way up the stairs and the first thing he saw were his parents, nose to nose, their faces red from anger. He saw his grandfather's small form between the two, trying to break them up. Yuugi vaguely wondered why his mother and father was even in the same room together, it was a rare occurrence.

Yuugi hoped to make it past them to his room without being noticed, but his mother's sharp eyes caught him. "Yuugi Motou!" she cried. "Come here!"

Yuugi flinched; he turned on his heel and walked towards his parents silently, looking at the floor the whole time; he couldn't see his mother's face and how her anger was now directed at him.

"Would you care to explain to me why I got a call from your homeroom teacher saying that you were late this morning and that you had missed your sixth period?" his mother cried in outrage.

Suguroku held up a hand at this. "That was my fault, I didn't wake the boy up this morning, there is no reason to get upset at him, Kyoko!"

Kyoko went on, as if she didn't even hear her father-in-law. "I was with a client at the time! Do you know how embarrassing that was for me? I lost that client and the sale I was trying to make, Yuugi, do you understand how severe the situation is?"

Yuugi clenched his hands into fists and squeezed his eyes shut. "I'm—"

"You're in your third year of high school, Yuugi," his father said, just as harshly. "Why don't you begin to take a little responsibility?"

Suguroku gaped at his son. "Megumi, Yuugi helps out at the Game Shop during all his free time, I say that that is very responsible!"

Again, the elderly man was ignored. "Let's face it Yuugi," Megumi continued. "Your grades are horrible and don't even get me started on your tardiness. Maybe if you paid a little more attention on your school work than those stupid games!"

"I—" Yuugi tried again, but was cut off.

"This is not how I raised my son to be, I am very disappointed in you," Megumi said.

Yuugi finally snapped. "You didn't raise me at all! Neither of you did! You were too busy arguing and only caring about yourselves and your jobs! You don't care about me at all!" Yuugi ran to his room and slammed the door, locking it and leaned against it heavily.

He heard his parents' voices through the door; now they were blaming each other for him being so upset, when it was clearly both of their faults. Yuugi was near tears, he was shaking and all he wanted to do now was crawl in a hole and never come out.

"I want you two to leave my house right now," he heard his grandpa say. "Both of you have hurt Yuugi enough, now leave! That boy doesn't deserve any of this, now stop fighting, at least around him."

"You aren't going to take my son away from me, Suguroku," he heard his mom say. "He is going to live with me and I'm going to raise him properly, unlike you."

"Oh, shut up, Kyoko!" That was his dad's voice.

Yuugi choked on a sob. He slid down to the floor and hugged his legs close to his chest, hiding his face in his knees. The fighting went on for a few more minutes, who is fit to take care of Yuugi and child custody, like he was an object. Finally, his mother and father left.

A moment later, his grandpa knocked on the door. "Yuugi, do you want to come out?"

Yuugi shook his head and then he realized his grandfather couldn't see him. "No," he choked out. He began to cry again.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, a child doesn't deserve to see his or her parents fight like that," his grandfather said. Finally, the old man sighed. "Come out whenever you feel like it, dinner will be ready whenever you're hungry."

Yuugi didn't answer; his grandfather's steps faded away.

Yuugi sat there for a few more minutes, his brain still trying to process what had just happened. But it was a hard thing to accept, one could never imagine seeing their parents fight.

He contemplated whether or not he wanted to call Ryou, but then his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled out and saw the caller I.D.—Ryou.

He answered it immediately. "Hi Ryou, I'm so glad that you called. Listen, I need—"

"_Hey Yuugi,"_ Ryou said cheerfully through the phone, as if he never heard Yuugi say anything.

Yuugi was taken aback by this. "Uh…hey, listen…"

"_You will never guess this but, guess what?"_

Yuugi sighed. "What?" he asked lifelessly.

Ryou obviously couldn't hear the depressed tone in his friend's voice, because he went on excitedly. _"Bakura and I are dating!"_

This made Yuugi sit up with interest. He gaped and sputtered a few moments; he finally got out, "What?"

"_Yeah, he asked me out this morning, during our first period together! I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you right away, but I was still so shocked and happy. Bakura said that I should wait to tell you in private, you're not mad are you?"_

Yuugi thought back earlier that day when Ryou was blushing and how he needed to do something immediately after school; now, Yuugi didn't want to know what that something was.

He felt a pain in his chest because his friend wasn't listening to him when he needed him, but he needed to be happy for Ryou; this was so special to the boy, it was his first relationship and he always liked Bakura. "Of course I'm not mad, Ryou," Yuugi said, trying to sound as happy as possible. "I'm happy for you, you deserve this."

"_Thank you, Yuugi; I'm so glad you're not mad. This doesn't change anything between us, you're still my best friend and nothing can change that! If you don't mind, we're going to be eating with Bakura's friends during lunch now, do you mind?"_

Yuugi thought of Yami and cringed, but he said, "No, I don't mind."

"_I'm sorry, Yuugi, I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow!"_

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," Yuugi said, but Ryou had already hung up.

Yuugi looked at the phone in his hand and stuffed it back in his pocket. He rested his forehead on his knees and cried again.

-/-

**Ranko: Great, now I'm sad. **

**Yuugi: You definitely abused my character in this chapter. **

**Yami: Ryou was so horrible in this chapter!**

**Ranko: I don't think so, he was just happy. I sympathized with Yuugi in this chapter. My parents fight too and when I try to tell my friends about it, they need me more than I need them at that moment, but we're all really good friends. **

**Yuugi: (hugs Ranko) Oh, so sad!**

**Ranko: (laughs) Aw, you're so sweet to me, Yuugi!**

**Yami: Make sure to leave nice, long reviews! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Ranko:…I don't know what to say. So let's just answer reviews!**

**Yami: Wow, that was intelligent.**

**Yuugi: Shut it, Yami. Ranko was really happy with all the positive reviews for chapter two, a lot of people felt bad for me so this chapter we're going to see if Ranko lightens it up a bit. **

**lilpopsplash:**** I'm glad you liked the chapter so much, I was kind of happy to hear that you started tear up (not in a creepy way) that means that I'm doing something right in my writing! Please continue to review!**

**SokiKuro:**** Thanks for the review! Yeah, Ryou gets abused a lot, it's time for him to just sit back and relax. We will be getting a little more insight on why Yami is such an asshole. And the thing with Yuugi's parents, they just don't like each other, no reason behind it; some married couples are really like that for no good reason. Please continue to review!**

**mangaloverxoxo:**** Your review just made me so happy, I kept rereading it! I loved it when you called Yami a big ball of hormones and I did give gramps a bigger role than I intended him to have, but that's okay! Please continue to review!**

**jgrl68:**** Yami is a player, isn't he? I don't know why, I think that he's just cute when he tries to be sexy. And Yuugi is a little fighter, he won't give in so easily to Yami! That scene where Yuugi had no one to talk to, I started to tear up because it reminded me of those moments where I didn't have anyone. Okay, emo moment over! I think Yami will change his ways soon and be a big supporter for Yuugi. Please continue to review!**

**FanFicFanGurl101:**** I'm sorry if you were confused at the beginning of the chapter ^^ maybe I didn't make it clear how chapter one ended and I apologize for that. After lunch, Yuugi was walking to his next class and he was dragged into the janitor's closet and that's basically where it ended. Thanks for the compliment on the kissing scene, I usually can't write that sort of stuff. Yes, Yuugi will give into Yami and his sexy self in due time! Please continue to review.**

**Yuugi: You think you got them all, Ranko?**

**Yami: Ranko twin owns nothing except her laptop!**

**Ranko: Enjoy!**

-/-

Yuugi groaned in pain from the aching in his back. He peeled his eyelids open and the light from the sun almost blinded him. He wanted to stretch but his muscles were stiff. He noticed that he was still leaning against the door, he must have fell asleep like that last night after he talked to Ryou

Yuugi pushed himself to his feet; his whole body was sore from sleeping on the floor. He trudged over to his dresser and got a cleaner, fresher school uniform to change into after his shower. He really did stink.

Yuugi stood under the stream of hot water. It helped wake him up and clear his mind. As he scrubbed shampoo in his wild hair he thought of what happened yesterday. It was all so unreal. How long has it been since he's seen his parents? One month? Two? And when he sees them again, they're fighting, as if that is much of a surprise.

Then Ryou was dating Bakura, which was probably the biggest shocker of them all. It wasn't that Yuugi thought it was impossible but…it was impossible. Ryou was too shy and Bakura would never admit to anyone his actual _feelings_.

Yuugi turned off the shower and stepped out, drying himself off and dressing quickly; his stomach was beginning to eat his backbone. He went into the kitchen and saw that his grandpa was no where in sight; strange. What immediately came into sight was a small note on the counter.

_Yuugi,_

_I'm sorry about what happened last night._ _I'm going to be out for a bit today, I have some business that needs to be taken care of._

_Grandpa_

Yuugi sighed and poured himself a bowl of cereal. His grandpa usually made him breakfast because Yuugi could not cook anything. He really did not want to go to school today, he was so tired and he did not want to face Yami Sennen. His mind flashed back to what his father told him last night about responsibility.

Yuugi didn't want to care, he didn't want those words to affect him the way they did. But they did and that is what confused him the most.

Yuugi checked the clock and saw that it was almost eight o'clock. He should leave soon. He grabbed his bags and went out the door, locking the Game Shop door behind him. He sighed again, he realized he has been doing that often, when Ryou wasn't there waiting for him.

He expected Ryou to walk with Bakura today, but it still hurt Yuugi all the same. He began the long walk to school when suddenly he was pounced on, toppling him over on the ground. He went down with a yell and his attacker giggled.

"Sabah el khair!"

Yuugi didn't know what was just said but he recognized it to be Arabic. "What?"

Whoever was on top of him was still laughing and finally the pressure on his back was release and he was helped to his feet. Behind him were Jounouchi, Seto, and Malik, who happened to be the source of the giggling and his attacker.

Seto sighed. "I'm sorry about him; we should keep him on a leash."

"Uh…" Yuugi said.

Malik blinked. "Oh, he looks confused."

"He said 'good morning' earlier," Jounouchi said helpfully, translating the Arabic that Malik spoke when he tackled Yuugi.

"I don't think that is the reason he was confused, mutt," Seto said tiredly, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Jounouchi's left eye twitched. "Hey!" he shouted and tackled Seto to the ground. The two boys began to wrestle and yell at each other.

Yuugi just stared at them; and they were supposed to be the hottest and best couple of the year?

Malik giggled again. "And you two say I need to be kept on a leash." He turned back to Yuugi. "I'm sorry about tackling you earlier; I'm really not that crazy…all the time. You just looked so sad walking all alone, I thought that maybe we could join you."

Yuugi smiled at how pleasant Malik was being. "Oh, that's fine, I would love to walk with you guys."

Malik beamed. "That's great! I'm Malik, by the way; Malik Ishtar."

Yuugi nodded. "I know, I met you yesterday."

The two began to walk to school, only assuming that the couple was following behind them. The two talked about random things, like school and about themselves. Yuugi found the conversation very enjoyable, Malik was nothing like the rumors he heard about him.

"That's a really cute charm," Yuugi said, pointing to the golden heart charm that was hanging from his school bag.

Malik blinked and looked down at what Yuugi was pointing at, as if he didn't know what he was talking about. Then a look of understanding dawned on his face and he smiled at Yuugi, melancholy in his eyes. "Thank you, my boyfriend gave it to me."

Yuugi nodded. "That's sweet; does your boyfriend go to this school?"

The melancholy in Malik's eyes changed to sadness, but he still tried to retain his smile. "He…he used to. He's in the army, stationed in Iraq."

Yuugi blinked and then his mouth fell open, he quickly covered his mouth with his hand and shook his head. "I'm sorry for bringing it up."

Malik smiled brightly again and waved his hand in a dismissing manner. "Don't worry about it! He's been in the army for a few years now so it doesn't bother me as much as it used to. Besides, he's coming home in a few weeks and I hope this time he's here to stay!"

"What?" Jounouchi chirped out excitedly from behind them. "Marik is coming home? Damn, I miss him! How's he doing?"

Malik smiled and looked over his shoulder at Jounouchi; if Yuugi didn't know any better he would have thought he saw tears of joy in Malik's eyes. "Uh-huh, he's doing great! He misses you all and plans on getting back at the prank you and Bakura pulled on him last time he was here."

Jounouchi paled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Oh, no…"

Yuugi couldn't help but laugh a little. He couldn't believe that he had never met this group before. They were so fun and he would have thought Bakura would bring them up in a conversation sometime. He had known Bakura since middle school, after all.

They made it to school and Yuugi immediately recognized two boys with white hair standing under a tree in the courtyard. They were talking and when they saw Yuugi, the shorter of the two waved them over.

Malik shrugged and began to walk over to the new couple. "We have plenty of time until school starts. Hey, you two!" Malik called as he ran the rest of the way over to the tree; the three other boys followed him. Malik cooed and pinched Ryou's cheek. "Aren't you two the cutest couple? Can I keep him, Bakura?" Malik asked playfully, pulling Ryou in for a tight hug.

Bakura pulled Ryou out of Malik's arms and slung a lazy arm around Ryou's shoulder. "Back off, Malik, he's mine. Besides, you have Marik."

Malik waved his hand and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, so? That doesn't mean I can't have a little fun. Besides, if I remember correctly, you once stole Marik from me once Bakura." Malik said this with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes so Yuugi knew the boy was joking.

Bakura flushed, from either anger or embarrassment. "It was New Year's Eve and we were dead drunk! Stop holding that over my head!"

Malik giggled. "I still have pictures; I can hold those over your head if you want."

Before the two boys could get into a fight, Seto cut in. "Not that I am not enjoying this quarrel but where is my cousin?"

Bakura blinked and looked over his shoulder; his eyes widened and he began to look around. "I swear, he was just here a minute ago…" he said under his breath. "He must have gone off somewhere with Anzu," Bakura said with a shrug.

Malik had that glint in his eyes again. "Off to do something R-rated, right?"

Bakura hit Malik's shoulder with his fist. "You little bastard, I don't know what Marik finds appealing in you. You know that they aren't a couple anymore."

"Yeah, but Anzu wishes they still were," Malik defended, rubbing his shoulder. "And for your information, Marik loves me because I'm sexy! I mean, look at me!" He pulled up his shirt to reveal his smooth, tan midsection.

A pair of hands shot out from behind Malik and pulled the boy's shirt back down. "Stop flashing everyone, Malik," a smooth voice said from behind the boy.

Malik turned around and hugged Yami. "Good morning, Yami! We were just talking about you!"

Anzu pouted. "Yeah, we heard."

Malik chewed on his bottom lip and tried to look as innocent as he could. "I'm sorry, no hard feelings, Anzu-chan?" Anzu simply sighed and shook her head in response.

"Good morning to you too, Malik," Yami said pleasantly. "Anzu and I had to go talk somewhere in private, away from these two." Yami pointed a finger at the couple. "They were all over each other and it was getting hard trying to hold a decent conversation when all you can hear is moaning."

The group of friends laughed, Ryou flushed a deep shade of red and smoke whistled out of Bakura's ears.

Yuugi just stood to the side, feeling awkward and out of place. He had no friends here so there was no point in just hanging around where he wasn't wanted. He turned to leave when someone put a firm hand on his shoulder. Yuugi jumped in surprise and turned around to see Jounouchi's kind face smiling down at him.

"What the rush, Yuugi?" the blond asked.

Yami's head shot up; Bakura leaned in to whisper in his best friend's ear. "Calm down, lover boy."

Malik held up his camera. "Can I take a picture of you? I want to send it to Marik, I'm sure he would love to know about one of his new friends."

"Friend?" Yuugi questioned, he didn't even know this Marik guy.

Malik nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, Marik says that any friend of mine is a friend of his. You are my friend, right Yuugi?"

Yuugi shrugged. "Uh…I guess so."

Jounouchi nodded in agreement. "Yeah, and Marik will basically become friends with anyone. He kind of tied all of together."

Yuugi's eyes traveled over every face of this small group of friends. "You mean, all of you are friends with Marik?"

"Yes," a voice spoke in his ear. Yuugi jumped in surprise again when he felt the warmth of a breath caress his ear. He looked up and over his shoulder into a pair of ruby eyes. "Everyone was devastated when we found out Marik was going into the army."

"Uh…" was the only thing Yuugi managed to get out when Yami slung his arm around the boy's shoulder.

"Take a picture of us side by side, Malik," Yami said. "Marik won't believe how much we look alike."

The camera clicked and Malik cried happily, "I got it! You guys are so cute together!"

Yuugi's eyes widened and pushed himself away from Yami. His eyes bore into the taller man's and they told Yami that he still had not forgiven him for what he did yesterday. Yami's eyes told him that he had not forgotten the slap to the face or punch to the gut.

"We are not…_cute_," Yuugi spit the last word out as if it were venom.

_Later that day ~_

Yami and Bakura were sitting on the track field during the lunch period. Bakura told Ryou that he would be right back, and then going after his friend as Yami walked quickly to the track.

"So, what the hell is your problem?" Bakura asked after a long silence between the two friends.

"I talked to Anzu this morning," Yami began. "She told me that her mother told her that he isn't doing too well."

"And you trust what that girl said?" Bakura asked with resentment.

Yami sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "You may not like her Bakura, I don't know why, but she is my friend. She is not that bad of a person, just a bit clingy at times but that doesn't mean she's a bitch. Besides, her mom is a doctor; she can't lie without getting arrested."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Bakura huffed out. "So are you going to see him after school?"

"I don't know, I don't think I want to see him," Yami said quietly.

Bakura laughed dryly. "Why? Because you don't want to see him sick or you know that he'll know you've been a bad boy." Bakura nudged Yami's side with his elbow and snickered.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Yami spit out, shoving Bakura.

"You know what I mean," Bakura said; Yami gave him a look. "You mean you have no idea what I'm talking about? Come on, you know, what happened yesterday in the supply closest."

Yami wore a blank expression and then his eyes widened, his face burning up; Bakura laughed whole-heartedly at his friend's expression. "How—how do you even know about that?" Yami yelled.

"Give me some credit, I see all, remember? You need to be sneakier than that to get past me. Anyway, don't you think that it is about time you stop screwing around and pining over the kid? I mean, it's getting really weird. You've just been stalking him for over a year, it's getting creepy," Bakura said.

"It is not stalking, you bastard!" Yami yelled again, punching Bakura in the gut.

"Ow! Damn it!" he cried in pain, rubbing his abdomen. "I'm sorry, but sooner or later you are going to traumatize that kid. Just leave him along, stop making him hate your guts! I mean, he's not like the girls from your fan club."

Yami gave his friend a look. "I do not have a fan club, it was back in middle school and it was only, like, three girls. And I know Yuugi isn't like them." Yuugi's hurt expression from the other day flashed in his mind and he remembered what he told him.

"_What the hell is your problem? Why do you have to be such an immature playboy? You don't always get what you want and not everyone wants you! Can't you accept that, you conceited jerk? Just leave me alone! I am not just some toy that you can have and use and then throw away when you're done! I am a person and I have feelings too!"_

"Yeah, I heard what he said too," Bakura said, breaking the silence. Yami looked up and gave his friend a look; it was like Bakura just read his mind. Bakura patted his friend on the shoulder and pushed himself to his feet. "I'm going back to be with Ryou, you can stay here and pout if you want, I don't care."

Bakura turned around and began to walk away. He suddenly stopped and looked over his shoulder. "You should go see him after school, I'm sure that it will make the both of you happy."

_After school ~_

Yuugi sighed as the last bell of the day rang, signaling it was time to go home. There was excited chatter around him as students packed their bags and talked about what they would do after school.

Honestly, all Yuugi wanted to do was go home, do his homework, and just rest. It was exhausting being back at school. If this was how the second day felt, Yuugi knew that this would be a bad year.

He was halfway home when Yuugi saw _him_. Yami was actually walking away from Yuugi, his back facing the other boy's, but it still chilled Yuugi's blood. What surprised him the most was that Yami was walking to the hospital.

Ignoring that little voice inside his head that told him to just continue walking home, Yuugi changed directions and followed Yami into the sterile building. It was all white, he could practically see his reflection in the floor and it smelled like hand sanitizer. Hospital made Yuugi uncomfortable, though he didn't know why.

He peaked around the corner and saw Yami talking to one of the nurses behind the desk. They were talking casually and the automatic doors to the side swung open. Yami waved his hand in thanks and walked through the double doors, they swung closed behind him.

Yuugi wanted so desperately to know why Yami was in a hospital. Who did he have to see? Why did he look so familiar in this place? Did he come here often? Yuugi smacked his cheeks to rid himself of those thoughts, reminding himself that he didn't care.

But unfortunately, he did care. His curiosity got the better of him and he walked up to the nurse Yami was talking to a moment ago. He cleared his throat to gain the nurse's attention and she looked up at him curiously. She looked to be in her early twenties, she had tan skin and spiky, dark brown hair. Her bright pink scrubs complimented her tan skin. Her name tag read, "Mana."

When she saw Yuugi, her face lit up. "Hello, how are you? Are you related to Yami Sennen? Are you here to see Atemu?"

Yuugi was taken aback by how fast the woman spoke and how quickly she asked her questions. "I…I'm fine, thank you. Uh, yes, I am related to Yami and I'm here to see…Atemu."

Mana nodded excitedly and pressed a button at her desk, opening the double doors for him. "Do you know where to go?"

"No, it's my first time coming here." It wasn't a lie.

"Atemu is in room 369 on the third floor, have a nice day," Mana chirped.

"Thank you, you too," Yuugi said, then he walked past the double doors and they closed behind him.

He felt so trapped in this area of the hospital. There were sick people everywhere and he had no idea where to go. He followed the signs as best he could to find the elevators and he was grateful when he found them. He rode up the elevator to the third floor and then he began the hunt for Atemu's room, whoever he was.

Yuugi couldn't believe he was doing this. He hated Yami, so why was he so interested in his life? He shouldn't be! It was just strange! And yet, he didn't stop himself from opening the door when he finally found the right room.

It was completely dark, the lights were off and the curtains were pulled together to cover the window. The T.V. wasn't even on to shed some light in the dark hospital room.

Well, this was the right room, so where was this Atemu person? Just when Yuugi turned around to leave the room, a quiet voice that was all too familiar to Yuugi spoke up. "Yami? Yami is that you?" The voice was rich and deep, a soothing baritone.

The bedside lamp clicked on and finally Yuugi could see. He turned around and gasped when he saw who was sitting up in the hospital bed. At first, he had mistaken the man in the bed for Yami, but there were small differences that told Yuugi it was not Yami.

This person was tan and had slouched shoulders, Yami never slouched. There were bags under his eyes; they were a few shades darker than Yami's, if that was even possible. And his hair was wilder than Yami's.

No, this was not Yami; it was Yami's twin.

-/-

**Ranko: Ah! This was such a lame chapter, I'm sorry guys!**

**Yami: You're so melodramatic, Ranko.**

**Yuugi: Leave nice, long reviews to cheer Ranko up!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ranko: I have to say that I am pleased with the amount of positive reviews I am getting. Thank you guys so much! **

**Yami: You're just upset that as soon as you say "Atemu" your reviewers say, "Mobiumshipping." I mean, he's supposed to be my brother in this story.**

**Yuugi: Yeah, I'm also not comfortable with that.**

**Ranko: Before I answer reviews, guys, let me just say: NO mobiumshipping. Sorry…**

**theabridgedkuriboh:**** Yeah, Atemu! I just love him so much! Your review made me laugh when you were scolding Yuugi, you have no idea how happy that made me! Please continue to review!**

**SincereJoyy:**** Awesome plot with intense drama is brewing! There will probably be a little bro-mance but it won't be severely romantic, and they probably will be a little twin rivalry. I am really excited about what I am going to do in this story and I hope that you like it too! And there will be more bronzeshipping! Please continue to review!**

**akelly92:**** Unfortunately this will not be a mobiumshipping story, I'm sorry. I am not the biggest fan of that pairing and Yami and Atemu are brothers and I don't feel comfortable writing incest. But there will be rivalry to see who gets Yuugi, if that makes you feel better. Please continue to review!**

**sea girl:**** Your review made me feel so loved! Thank you so much! I can see that you really like my updates! Please continue to review!**

**Goshikku Hime wa Yami-san:**** Can you tell me what your penname means? =3 I think that it is really cool, if only I knew what it meant! Dilemma! Anyway, you bet there will be a Heba to go with Atemu! I am very excited about this story! Please continue to review!**

**Yuugi: Ranko apologizes if she didn't answer someone's review, it doesn't mean she doesn't appreciate the review. **

**Yami: Ranko twin owns nothing except her laptop!**

**Ranko: Enjoy!**

-/-

The boy in the hospital bed narrowed his eyes at Yuugi and sat up straighter. Yuugi couldn't help but flinch away from his scrutinizing stare. "Um…" he began dumbly; the man in bed did not look amused.

"You're not Yami," the man said. "Who are you? Where's Yami?" Yuugi could begin to hear panic in the man's voice. His crimson eyes widened and he sat up straighter, looking around the room as if he had just woken up from a daze. "Yami? Yami!"

Yuugi jumped in surprise and ran over to stand by the man's bed. "No! Please, be quiet! Don't yell, I can't get caught, I'm really not supposed to be here!" Yuugi whispered harshly, putting a hand on the patient's shoulder to calm him down.

The man looked horrified when Yuugi touched him. He slapped the hand off his shoulder and continued to yell, "Yami! Yami! Ya—!" He stopped mid-shout, he made a strange choking sound in the back of his throat and began to cough violently. He was beginning to shake and tears were rolling down his cheeks, hunching over and coughing harder.

Yuugi moved to put a hand on the man's shoulder but froze when blood spurted from the man's mouth as he coughed. It stained his hand red and dribbled down his chin. Yuugi stood there, shocked and afraid. He didn't know what was going on, what was wrong with this man?

"Oh my, God!" he cried. He backed away from the man who was still coughing. "I'll go get help!" He turned around and ran right into a broad chest. Yuugi looked up in surprise and was about to apologize but then he noticed the familiar crimson eyes. "Yami…" he whispered breathlessly.

"Yuugi?" the taller man questioned, as if he didn't believe Yuugi was standing right in front of him. Yami then noticed his brother who was having a coughing fit and spitting out blood. "Oh my, God! Atemu!" he cried, running over to his brother. He began to rub his back and made comforting shushing noises.

Atemu's coughing began to calm down until it was non-existent. It left Atemu sweating and panting for air; he finally passed out and fell back on his bed. His mouth and hand were stained with blood.

Yuugi tried to sneak out of the room while this was going on but Yami's sharp eyes caught him. "Stay," he commanded Yuugi as if he were a dog. But it worked and Yuugi didn't move an inch. "Come here." Yuugi took a few steps forward until he was standing across from Yami over Atemu's bed.

"Uh, hey," Yuugi said lamely.

Yami showed him the same un-amused face as his brother's. "What are you doing here, Yuugi?"

Yuugi scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Uh, well…" What could he say that would get him out of this? Why hadn't he thought of an excuse before? "Well…what are you doing here?"

Yami raised his eyebrows at the shorter boy and gestured to Atemu who was sleeping in his bed. "I thought it would have been obvious after what just happened but I guess you want me to spell it out for you. This is my brother and he is sick. He is my family and I visit him in the hospital," Yami said slowly, as if he were speaking to a child.

Yuugi fumed. "Don't undermine me."

Yami ignored him and again asked, "What are you doing here?"

Yuugi sat down in one of the chairs beside Atemu's bed and sighed. "I was wondering why you were going into a hospital. Then I saw you talking to that nurse and you looked so familiar with her and I was wondering why. She thought I was related to you and let me come up here."

Yami grinned cheekily and sat down in a chair opposite of Yuugi. "So…you've been following me? Dear Yuugi, if you just wanted me you could have just asked. There is no need to resort to stalking."

Yuugi blushed and shook his head. "I didn't follow you intentionally; I pass the hospital every day when I walk home!"

Yami chuckled and Yuugi didn't understand why the sound made his heart do a little leap. "I know that, I can see the Game Shop from Atemu's window."

"Then why would you say that I stalk…" Yuugi began but cut himself off when he realized something. "Wait? Does this mean that you've been watching me?"

Yami shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest. "Just like you, it was unintentional."

Yuugi could swear that smoke was whistling out of his ears. Why was he even still here? The boy stood from his seat, surprisingly, Yami copied his actions and stared at him questionably. "Where are you going?"

Yuugi quirked an eyebrow up. "Home? Where else? I don't have any business here so there is no reason that I should stay." He turned on his heel to walk out but Yami quickly grabbed his wrist to stop him. Yuugi tried to tug himself free of Yami's grasp but the man was strong. "What are you doing?"

"Leaving so soon? You could always sit here and talk with me, maybe apologize to my brother for giving him such a fit," Yami said with a smirk but Yuugi could see in his crimson eyes that he really wanted Yuugi stay so he wouldn't be alone.

Yuugi decided to ignore that look. "Why would I stay and talk to you after everything that you have done to me in the past?"

"What have you done to the boy, Yami?" a quiet voice spoke up from behind them.

They both turned and saw that Atemu was trying to sit up in bed but he was weak and barely awake. Yami sighed and walked back over to his twin brother. "It's nothing, Atemu, go back to sleep. You need your rest."

Atemu waved his brother's fussing hands away. "No, I have time to rest all day, trapped in this God forsaken hospital room."

"If you want to go home tomorrow then you're going to have to rest," Yami said, pushing down on his brother's shoulder so he could lie back down.

But what Yami said made Atemu sit up even more in excitement. "Are mother and father going to be there?"

Yami looked at Yuugi out of the corner of his eye; the smaller boy was at a total lose for what they were talking about. "No, they won't be there, Atemu," Yami answered.

Atemu sighed and fell back into bed. "Not much of a home then," he said wearily before falling back to sleep.

Yami sighed and turned towards Yuugi. "You can leave now, I'll see you tomorrow during school." Yuugi didn't even bother to mention that he had wanted to leave from the beginning, with or without Yami's permission. He just bowed and walked out of the room, rode down the elevator, and walked out of the hospital.

It was nice to breathe in the fresh air again, instead of that antibacterial scent that always lingered in hospitals. As soon as Yuugi was back outside, he ran home, not stopping to catch his breath until he got home.

Yuugi quickly unlocked the back door and ran up the stairs. His grandpa wasn't home yet but that didn't matter. He went straight to his room and pulled out his cellphone. He went through his contacts list and dialed a number he rarely ever called.

"_Hey squirt, what do you want?_"

Yuugi sighed. "Hey, Bakura, how long have you known Yami?"

It took a while for Bakura to respond, he was obviously surprised by Yuugi's question. "_Um, I guess I've known him most of my life. Why?_"

"So that means that you know about Atemu as well?"

Yuugi thought that he heard something like glass breaking, as if Bakura just dropped something. "_The better question is, how do _you_ know about Atemu?_"

"Why is it such a surprise?" Yuugi questioned.

"_Listen Yuugi, usually I would help you; you're Ryou's best friend. But I'm not the one who should be telling you this. It is too personal for anyone other than Yami to tell you._"

Yuugi inwardly groaned, he was afraid Bakura was going to say that.

"_All I can tell you is that Atemu is very sick and his life in general isn't very good. Yami and Atemu's parents split up when they were thirteen and a year later, Atemu got sick. They're living alone right now, well, Yami is anyway; Atemu spends most of his time in the hospital._"

Yuugi couldn't help but gape, Yami was living alone somewhere, probably in a rundown apartment. Wait, was he actually worried for Yami? He had been doing that a lot lately; he really needed to stop feeling these things towards Yami.

"_Yuugi, you can't tell anyone about this. Social services will put Yami in foster care and then Atemu will be left alone. So if you open your big mouth, I will personally kill you. Understood?_"

Yuugi gulped and nodded, and then he realized that Bakura couldn't see him and said, "Yes." It was very meek and his voice shook from fear.

"_Alright, I'll see you tomorrow then_."

Before Yuugi could say goodbye, Bakura hung up on him. He stared at his phone in shock and then shook his head and put on his desk. He fell back to lie on his bed and stared up at his ceiling. He couldn't believe what he just heard. Was everything Bakura told him true? He felt his heart stir and it made Yuugi flinch.

He rolled over and smothered his face in his pillow. No, his feelings couldn't be changing now; not now.

_Elsewhere ~_

Atemu stared up at his ceiling; his brother was half asleep in the chair sitting by his bed. He was snoring lightly but Atemu ignored that. He couldn't get his mind off the child that looked so much like his brother. But Atemu knew that the boy was not a child, despite his appearance.

The boy was stuck on his mind. His eyes. His hair. His face. Everything about him was etched into his mind, tattooed to the back of his eyelids. And the most shocking thing was how similar the boy looked to _him_.

Atemu thought that he had gotten over him, but the pain in his heart was evident that he still had strong feelings towards the little one. If only he knew where he was now. Was he safe? Was he with someone else? 'Of course he is,' a voice in his head answered. 'He left you.'

Atemu felt his heart clench painfully. He turned his head to look at his brother who stirred in his sleep and resituated himself to get more comfortable. He could see the look in his brother's eyes when that boy was here, he was no fool. It reminded him so much of himself when he first met…

Atemu shook his head. No, he had to forget about him; he had to get over him. His thoughts travelled back to the boy who visited him this afternoon. His brother called him Yuugi, didn't he? Yuugi was certainly pretty and he would like to meet him again, get to know him better and maybe learn to love again.

He looked over at his brother again. Maybe Yami wouldn't mind bringing Yuugi here every once in a while. Atemu didn't like to admit it, but he knew Yami would do anything to make him happy and Atemu used that to his advantage sometimes.

Yuugi…could he replace his beloved Heba?

_Next day ~_

"Yuugi!" Malik called as he ran up behind Yuugi. This time the shorter boy was prepared and stepped out of the way, so Malik landed face first on the ground. Seto and Jounouchi appeared behind him and began to chuckle. Yuugi couldn't help but stare; Seto Kaiba was smiling…and he had an arm around Jounouchi's shoulder.

Now he understood why they were the hottest couple of the year.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Malik clung on to his pant leg and tugged. Yuugi looked down, startled, and saw tears streaming down Malik's face. He looked like a kicked puppy, but those faces didn't work on Yuugi, considering that he was the master of the puppy dog eyes. "That wasn't very nice, Yuugi-chan."

The name given to him by Malik made him blush and made Jounouchi laugh even harder until he almost fell down.

Yuugi shook his head and offered a hand to help Malik up. "Too bad," he said with a smile to show that he was joking. Malik accepted the hand and was pulled to his feet.

"So Yuugi," Jounouchi said, squirming out of Seto's hold and moving to put an arm around the shorter boy. "What do you think of our little group of friend? We haven't scared you off yet, have we?"

Yuugi couldn't help but chuckle. "A lot nicer than I thought that you guys would be," he said, letting it slip out by accident.

There was a moment of silence as they all stopped walking and Yuugi blushed furiously; they must have hated him now. To his surprise, they all started to laugh, even Seto. "Yeah, we get that a lot," Jounouchi said, beginning to walk again.

"Most people expect us to be egotistical and rude," Malik said, twirling a strand of hair around his finger.

"Especially Yami," Seto said, trailing along behind Jounouchi like a guard dog.

"Um…" Yuugi mumbled under his breath, unsure of what to say.

Jounouchi nodded. "I hated Yami when I first met him, but man, he is the funniest guy to be around. He cracks jokes all the time, he just acts cool around people he doesn't know usually because he doesn't know what to do or he wants that person to like him."

"What if he acts like a total pervert towards you?" Yuugi mumbled under his breath.

Seto's sharp ears picked it up. "I guess that's just a way to hide his real feelings. If he acts like he doesn't care then he won't get hurt in the long run." Seto shrugged. "I don't know though, I would ask him."

"Why does every one keep telling me that?" Yuugi said to himself.

This time everyone heard him and they all turned towards Yuugi; the shorter boy flushed with all the attention on him. "Why would you say that?" Seto asked, narrowing his eyes.

Yuugi gulped under Seto's gaze, and then remembering Bakura's threat last night, he said, "It's nothing."

Seto grabbed Yuugi's arm. "You guys go on ahead, we'll catch up in a minute," he told Jounouchi and Malik.

The two boys continued walking and Yuugi was half-tempted to call out, "Don't leave me with him!" But he kept his mouth shut.

"What do you know about my cousin?" Seto asked.

This nearly made Yuugi fall over backwards. Seto was Yami's cousin? "If you're his cousin then why isn't he living with you?" Yuugi slapped a hand over his mouth as soon as he realized what he said. Bakura was going to kill him!

Seto's eyes widened; he looked around to see if anyone was there to listen in on their conversation. "Who told you that Yami was living alone?" Yuugi stayed silent and Seto studied his face. "Was it Bakura?"

Yuugi refused to meet Seto's eyes and barely moved his head up and down in a nod. Seto sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "That must mean you also know about Atemu." Again, Yuugi nodded. "You know, I'm not going to yell at you, you're aloud to speak."

Yuugi took a deep breath and sighed. "I don't know much about Atemu, just that he is very sick and spends most of his time in the hospital. Bakura didn't tell me much, he said it wasn't his right to tell me."

Seto leaned again a chain link fence. "Well, he's right about that. If Yami wants you to know, he would tell you. And for an answer to your question, the reason Yami isn't living with me and my family is because he doesn't want to. We offered to take him in after his parents…" Seto shook his head. "But he refused, said he'd be fine until he was eighteen. I'm just supporting his financially; you know, help pay the rent and the hospital bill. But Yami says he won't accept any more of my charity." Seto chuckled. "He's too damn proud."

Yuugi was just as shocked as he was last night. Yami…what more did he not know about him?

Seto sighed. "And then Atemu got sick. I think it was three years ago, time sure does fly. But anyway, Yami was a wreck after that, still kind of is. Man, you should have seen him when we found out Atemu was sick, he…" Seto bit his bottom lip to stop himself. "That's another thing for him to tell you. Atemu was so strong, he was always happy despite everything that happened, and then _he_ left…"

Yuugi was about to ask who "he" was but then Seto straightened and began to walk. "Come on," he called over his shoulder. "We better get to school, everyone is probably wondering where we are."

Yuugi nodded and ran to catch up with Seto's long strides. They walked in silence as Yuugi thought about everything that he was told. There were blank spots in the story, things that "Yami needed to tell him, himself."

Even if Yuugi hated it, he would just clench his teeth and put on a fake smile, because Yuugi would find out about Yami. He would learn about his life, no matter what he had to do.

Yuugi inwardly groaned, he knew he was going to regret that later.

-/-

**Ranko: Yuugi's master plan is brewing! He's going to be nice to Yami and get closer to him so he can find out about his life! Bad Yuugi!**

**Yuugi: This was a rather short chapter.**

**Ranko: I know, I had trouble getting into it in the beginning but I guess I just have to get past this little bump in the road and then I can move on to the good stuff!**

**Yami: What is with my character?**

**Ranko: You're complex, which is just a nice way of saying that you are a jackass!**

**Yuugi: Please review!**

**Ranko: Also, if you are confused or catch a mistake I may have made, leave it in your review! I appreciate constructive criticism!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ranko: Let me just say this, I hope that you guys are enjoying this story. I like it but I would also like to know if you guys enjoy reading it as well.**

**Yami: Ranko, stop laying the guilt trip on your readers.**

**Ranko: I'm not!**

**Yuugi: Anyway, we have reviews to answer.**

**theabridgedkuriboh:**** I'm going to make Atemu more pathetic as the story goes on ;) in a good way. Yeah, Yuugi is not that good at keeping his mouth shut. Please continue to review!**

**lilpopsplash:**** I know, I am loving this story so far! I think that I'm going to slow it down a bit though. Please continue to review!**

**mangaloverxoxo:**** Silly Yuugi, just doesn't know when to keep his nose out of other peoples' business. Please continue to review!**

**Magi Magi Magician Girl:**** Thanks for the review, and you're right, I probably won't tell you too much ;) just that Yuugi has no idea who Heba and Heba has no idea who Yuugi is, so yeah, they have no relation. Please continue to review!**

**sea girl:**** After reading your review I feel bad for updating late ^^ I'm sorry! Please continue to review!**

**jgrl68:**** I know, don't you want to just give Atemu a big hug, I think that I'm going to torture him some more though! There will be sibling rivalry so you have that to look forward to! Please continue to review!**

**Goshikkur Hime wa Yami-san:**** If you're worried your message didn't come in clear enough, don't worry; I got it. I still love your penname and I think it is super cute that you have a hikari! Pleas continue to review!**

**Ranko: You think I should make a hikari?**

**Yami: No…**

**Ranko: Wait, why?**

**Yuugi: Ranko twin does not own anything involving Yu-Gi-Oh!**

**Yami: Enjoy!**

**Ranko: Why did you say no, Yami?**

-/-

Atemu sat up in his bed as the nurse was taking his blood pressure and proceeding with the daily check-up. Mana smiled at him as she took the cuff off and left the room to get the doctor, Mahad. Atemu didn't smile back.

It had been a bad day overall. He had woken up with a high fever and had needles poked in his skin at least five times already, and it was only noon. Then he found out that he needed a bone marrow transplant to live, which only Yami could supply since they were twins. He didn't want to ask his brother that though and begged Mahad not to tell him.

Atemu sighed and closed his eyes, seeing the little boy from the other day flash in his mind again. His eyes opened and looked at the framed picture on his bedside table. It was him and Yami when they were kids with another boy between them. Then another picture of himself and the other boy again, they were older now.

Atemu was smiling and looked like he was the one holding the camera out arms length to take the picture. The side of the picture with the other boy was punched out, the cracks in the glass making it impossible to see his face.

"_Atemu! Look this way!"_

"_What are you doing?"_

_A laugh. _

"_Smile!" _

_And then a flash. _

Atemu felt anger and pain swell up in his chest and the heart monitor that he was hooked up to began to beep quickly and his heart rate picked up. Mahad came in when this happened and rushed over to the boy's side. "Atemu! What's wrong? Mana, come over here and help me!"

Mana and Mahad fretted around Atemu, asking him questions and prodding him with doctor's equipment. They asked if he was in pain, he nodded. They asked where it hurt, he pointed to his chest. They tried to heal the pain but nothing could fix a broken heart.

_Elsewhere ~_

"No! Bakura get away from me! Yuugi save me!" Ryou cried as he hid behind Yuugi. The group of friends laughed at the couple's antics. Bakura always showed his affection towards Ryou openly which embarrassed the boy to no end and would result in Ryou hiding behind one of his friends.

Today it happened to be Yuugi.

Yuugi groaned and patted Ryou on the shoulder. Bakura was pouting at him, but his pout looked more like a dangerous scowl half of the time.

They were currently all eating lunch on the school roof top. Yami and Yuugi were sitting as far apart from each other as possible as their friends laughed and joked around them. After what happened yesterday in the hospital, Yuugi felt even more awkward being around Yami. He was sure that the man hated him now…not that he cared what Yami thought or anything.

Apparently making Yami like him and trust him enough to tell him more about his life would be harder than he thought, especially since he wouldn't even make eye contact with the man.

Yuugi cursed his curiosity to know everything and have a natural concern for people. He still hated Yami; no one could ever easily forgive someone who forced themselves on you. But then he remembered seeing Atemu lying there in his bed, looking so weak, and Yami hovering over him worriedly.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Malik suddenly pounced on him. Yuugi had gotten use to the boy's crazy antics and usually stepped out of the way when Malik was ready to attack. But this time Yuugi was lost deep in his thoughts and never saw it coming.

"Yuugi-chan!" the blond cried excitedly.

Ryou raised a questioning eyebrow at his best friend and smiled. "Yuugi-chan?"

Yuugi stuck his tongue out at his friend. The first few days of Bakura and Ryou going out, Yuugi was ignored by his best friend. Now it felt just like it once was, the only difference was Bakura was even clingier of Ryou than he was before.

"Look, look!" Malik cried holding a picture up for Yuugi to see. Yuugi blinked to get a better visual of the picture and saw it was a young man with spiky bleach blond hair and tanned skin. He wore a military uniform and was smiling cheekily at the camera, holding up two fingers in a peace sign.

"Who is this?" Yuugi asked, taking the picture out of Malik's hair and looking at it more carefully. Now that he got a better look, he saw a long horizontal scar running across the man's left cheekbone, pinching the skin in at that area.

"That's Marik!" Malik said happily.

Yuugi's eyes widened and he looked at the picture again. Malik and Marik looked like twins! "_That's_ Marik?"

Malik nodded enthusiastically.

"You two look exactly alike!" Yuugi blurted out unintentionally.

Malik puffed out his cheeks. "Why does everyone say that?"

Bakura laughed. "Because it's true!" he said, putting an arm around Ryou's shoulder.

Malik scowled. "Shut up, you narcissist! You and Ryou look more alike than me and Marik do!"

Before Bakura could retaliate, Yami punched the white haired boy's shoulder. "Shut up, both of you, I'm on the phone," he whispered away from the receiver as he continued to listen.

Bakura and Malik resorted to making faces at each other if they couldn't get into a verbal match. Finally, Yami hung up on the phone and sighed. He got his bag and stuffed his phone in his pocket, rising to his feet.

"Where are you going?" Seto asked, not looking up from his laptop.

"Out," Yami said simply, beginning to walk towards the door leading to the stairs.

"And school?" Jounouchi asked; he was one to talk, he had skipped school plenty of times before he met Seto.

"I'll just miss my afternoon classes," Yami said with a shrug. "Seto, will you cover for me?"

Seto held up a thumb's up and continued to type away at his laptop; Jounouchi elbows his boyfriend's side. "Don't do that!"

"Why no?" he asked, finally looking up from his computer; he never ignore Jounouchi.

"Well…it's just wrong!" Jounouchi argued weakly.

Seto snorted. "How many times have I covered for you in the past?"

Jounouchi fumed. "That was a long time ago, I'm different now!"

"That doesn't matter, you still did it," Seto said calmly as smoke whistled out of Jounouchi's ears.

Yami was already gone however and left Seto and Jounouchi to work out their argument like they always did. Yuugi looked back and forth between the couple as they threw come-back after come-back at each other. Then Yuugi turned his head to the door where Yami disappeared.

Yuugi sighed; damn his concern to hell.

Yuugi stood up and got his things. "I'll be back; can you cover for me Seto?" Yuugi asked in the middle of their argument.

Seto shrugged as he hacked in the school's attendance system. Jounouchi gaped as Yuugi ran out the door and down the stairs. "Oh, not him too!"

Yuugi ran off school grounds to try and catch up with Yami; he didn't understand why he cared so much. He hated Yami, he hated Yami, he hated Yami! But that argument was beginning to get old, even in Yuugi's own mind. But he couldn't just forgive Yami, not after what he had done to him that day two years ago.

Yuugi shook those thoughts from his head and just focused on trying to find Yami. He had no idea where the man went. He was lucky enough to see Yami enter the hospital at the right time, or else he would have missed him and had been wondering around for hours.

Yuugi forced himself to walk through the hospital doors; he hated hospitals! He turned the corner quickly but Yami was already gone, most likely up in Atemu's room. Yuugi walked to the front desk where Mana was sitting again, typing away at her computer.

"Hey, I'm here to see Atemu," Yuugi said; why did his voice sound so rushed?

Mana looked up and smiled gently at him. "You're not really related to Atemu and Yami," she said.

Yuugi cringed and was about to leave when the automatic doors swung open. He looked back at Mana in surprise and saw that she was looking away from Yuugi but there was a hint of a smile on her lips. "I didn't see anything, go on back."

"Thank you," he said quietly and walked quickly through the doors to the elevators at the end of the hall. He waited anxiously as the elevator rode up to the right floor and as soon as the doors opened, he was walking quickly down the sterile halls.

He made himself slow down as he reached Atemu's room, then as he neared it, he heard voices coming from inside. The door was left open and Yuugi stood there quietly in the door way.

Yami and another man had their backs facing him. The other man, Yuugi guessed, was a doctor. He looked a lot like Mana, dark skin and dark hair. The two men were talking over Atemu, who was currently writhing on his bed. He was sweating and breathing deeply as his face contorted with pain sometimes.

"He has had a fever all day," the doctor said, he had a slight accent that Yuugi could not pinpoint. "He has been delusional and rambling on about Heba, I don't he even knows that he has been talking about him."

'Heba?' Yuugi thought. 'Who is Heba?'

Yami sighed and brushed his brother's bangs away, which were plastered against the tan man's face due to the sweat. "Geez," Yami sighed out.

Atemu's eyes began to open without Yami or the doctor seeing it. He began to look around in confusion and spotted Yuugi standing in the door way. His eyes widened and he was mouthing something.

"Yami," the doctor began, "your brother's illness is starting to get worse. He might die," the man said. Yami sucked in a harsh breath. The doctor held up a hand to calm Yami's nerves. "But there is one thing that can most likely save him. Atemu didn't want me to tell you this but I just can't let the boy die, you have to…"

"Heba," Atemu spoke up weakly, his throat was dry making his voice croak.

The doctor and Yami exchanged looks and looked over their shoulders, finally noticing Yuugi standing there. The smaller boy jumped and looked around frantically; he felt like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Heba," Atemu said again, more desperately and the man tried to push himself to sit up; his arms were trembling. "Heba, you're here."

"No, Atemu, that's not…" Yami tried to explain while throwing a glare at Yuugi.

"No, that's Heba, I know it is. Heba, where have you been?" Atemu asked. "Why did you leave? Heba! Answer me, damn it! I deserve that much!"

Yuugi was trembling and felt tears begin to pool in his eyes; he didn't know why though. "I…I don't—know…what?" The doctor quickly walked over to Yuugi and began to push him out of the room.

"I'm sorry, sir, you have to go now," the doctor said; Yuugi caught a glimpse of his nametag, Mahad.

"No, don't take him away, not again!" Yuugi heard Atemu cry and then violent coughing and gagging. There was a quick beeping sound that sounded like a heart monitor he always heard in the movies.

Mahad let out a little shout of surprise and pushed Yuugi out the door forcefully. "Please leave now!" Nurses came out of no where and swarmed into the room. Yuugi caught a glimpse of Atemu before he was completely surrounded by doctors and nurses.

He looked miserable and just plain sick.

Yami was even pushed out of the room. Yuugi couldn't move again, he couldn't even feel his feet. Yami refused to make eye contact with him, but Yuugi saw his clenched fists. "What are you doing here, Yuugi? Why do you keep showing up at the worst possible times?"

The tears that were pooling up in Yuugi's eyes earlier rolled down his cheeks in a steady stream. "I…I'm sorry, it's just that…Atemu and you…and I just wanted to help…" That didn't sound right.

Yami chuckled a humorless laugh. "Why would you possible want to help me?"

Yuugi's breath caught in his throat.

"After what I did to you, I wouldn't want to help me. You're supposed to hate me, right?"

Yuugi opened his mouth to speak but Yami continued.

"Is this some kind of payback for forcing myself on you; are you just going to ruin my brother's life now?"

That was the last straw for Yuugi. The smaller boy took Yami's shoulder and forcefully turned him around. "What is your problem? I would never do that to another person! I don't even know what I did! You know it too! So before you start pointing your finger at me, why don't you ask yourself what you might have done wrong?"

Yuugi's face was red and tears were still streaming down his face. "I hate you!" he choked out and ran away from Yami.

His vision was blurred from his tears and the next thing he knew, he was back outside, still running. Well…until he ran into someone else.

Yuugi and the other person he ran into fell on their backsides and they both shouted in surprise. Yuugi rubbed the tears out of his eyes so he could see clearly. He saw the person he ran into was rubbing their aching tailbone and muttering of few profanities under his breath.

"Oh my, God," Yuugi cried, standing up so he could help the other person up. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying attention and…"

The other person chuckled. "You sure like to ramble; it's fine, I wasn't paying attention either." The person was wearing a baseball cap to shield his eyes from the sun. He removed it and spiky, tri-colored hair popped out, shining in the sun.

Yuugi gaped openly at the sight before him.

He was staring at a mirror reflection of himself. Same face, same eyes, same hair, even the same nose! The only difference was that this boy was tanner than he was, but then again, everyone was tanner than Yuugi.

Yuugi's twin held out a hand for him to shake. "Hi, I'm Heba."

-/-

**Ranko: Yes, I am a bitch! I update later than I usually do and I give you a cliffhanger! At least I can focus more on this story now that Ready or Not is done. **

**Yami: I think I actually liked this chapter. **

**Yuugi: It was sad.**

**Ranko: I liked this chapter too! Please review and tell me what you think of this update!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Ranko: A big thank you to the four reviewers that reviewed last chapter! I feel loved! =3**

**Yami: You are such a review whore. **

**Ranko: I realize this…**

**Yuugi: It just makes authors feel good to know that their stories are being enjoyed as much as they enjoy them. **

**Ranko: Couldn't have said it better myself!**

**theabridgedkuriboh:**** Yeah, things are probably gong to get worse =3 Thanks for the review and please continue to support me!**

**lilpopsplash:**** Yeah, I think that those two idiots should figure out their relationship too. Time for the angsty back stories! Yeah, Yami probably won't pull his head out of his ass until Atemu and Heba get together. Cross your fingers! Please continue to review!**

**Goshikku Hime wa Yami-san:**** O_o Wow, should I be afraid? =3 Anyway, I don't think Heba's reason for leaving Atemu will be that extreme, and I hope I won't disappoint! Please continue to review!**

**SincereJoyy:**** Your review made me feel so loved! I couldn't have said it better myself! And I love and hate those stories that make me turn away from them to compose myself. Heba has very strong ties with Atemu (obviously) but he doesn't know who Yuugi is. Please continue to review!**

**Ranko: I really want to make this a short chapter so lets see how this works out!**

**Yami: Ranko twin owns nothing!**

**Yuugi: Enjoy!**

**Ranko: Why does everyone steal my intro?**

-/-

"You're Heba?" Yuugi cried louder than he intended to.

Heba plugged his ears and chuckled. "Yes, I am. I know that it is a strange name, but what are you going to do?" he said with a shrug of his shoulders. His expression turned serious as he looked at Yuugi. "Why? Have we met before?"

Yuugi quickly realized his mistake. He remembered Atemu crying out for Heba and now that he saw the tanned boy, he realized why Atemu mistook him for Heba.

"Uh…" Yuugi began lamely. "No, we haven't."

Heba looked at Yuugi strangely and then shrugged again. "Alright then, hey, can you tell me where the local hospital is?" he asked Yuugi.

The boy blinked and nodded. "Domino Hospital? It's just down the street," he said, pointing in the direction he just came from.

Heba nodded his thanks and turned on his heel to walk away, in the complete opposite direction of where Yuugi directed.

Yuugi stood there, mouth agape and not really knowing what to do. The kid strolled merrily down the street, whistling, as if he never ran into Yuugi. "H-hey!" Yuugi called, his voice cracking.

Heba stopped and looked over his shoulder to look at Yuugi curiously. "What?" he asked.

"Why did you need to know where the hospital was?" Yuugi asked.

Heba blinked at Yuugi and then giggled. "So I can stay as far away from that place as possible." He then winked and waved goodbye as he continued to walk away.

_Next day ~_

"And then he just walked off, it was so weird," Yuugi told Ryou as they were getting ready to open the Game Shop for the day. Yuugi had retold all of the events of what happened yesterday, excluding the hospital, to Ryou.

"That is weird," Ryou said as he stacked a pile of Duel Monster cards on one shelf. "I never thought I'd live to see the day Yuugi Motou would find his twin. I didn't think it was possible." Ryou giggled at his own little joke.

Yuugi pouted as he cleaned the glass casing displaying some of their older games. "Oh, shut up," he said playfully, sticking out his tongue at his best friend. "Besides, Yami and I look alike, and I don't even know this Heba kid. At least I'm not _dating_ my twin. By the way, is Bakura okay with you being out of his sight like this?"

Ryou shrugged. "If he's not, he'll get over it." Both boys laughed. "But really," Ryou continued, "he's hanging out with Yami today and I wanted to spend time with my best friend too. I need someone besides Bakura to hang out with," Ryou said teasingly. "He watches me like a hawk most of the time."

"I guess that's love, or his own weird form of it," Yuugi said as he flipped the closed sign over so everyone could see OPEN.

Yuugi and Ryou chatted for a few more minutes; the morning was always the slow business time. Then the bell above the door chimed; before Yuugi could open his mouth to begin his usual greeting, loud bickering filled the store.

"Why would you say something like that, you jackass?" Bakura screamed in Yami's face.

"Hey, if you were in my position you would do the same thing!" Yami shouted back.

Bakura shook his head wildly. "No, I wouldn't because I'm not as stupid as you!" Bakura yelled, shaking Yami by his shoulders.

Yami pushed Bakura off of him and grabbed a fistful of his shirt. "You wanna go?" he yelled.

Yuugi cleared his throat rather loudly. "Ahem!"

Both males turned their heads, as if they had forgotten where they were. They were met with Yuugi's un-amused stare and Ryou, who as giggling behind his hand. Bakura composed himself and walked over to Ryou, putting an arm around the smaller boy's shoulder. "Hello, kitten."

Ryou matched Yuugi's un-amused stare, but on Ryou, it looked more like a pout. "You know that I hate it when you call me 'kitten.'"

"Alright then, how about 'rabbit?'" Bakura suggested.

Ryou tugged at two of Bakura's spikes. "I'm not the one with the rabbit ears."

It was Bakura's turn to pout. "That was a low blow."

Ryou shrugged. "You started it."

During this conversation between the couple, Yami had migrated over to the counter where Yuugi was working. The smaller boy tried to avoid eye contact with Yami as much as possible. Every time Yami got this close to him, he remembered that day nearly two years ago when Yami forced himself on Yuugi. It made him cringe every time he thought about it.

"I'm sorry," Yami whispered so Bakura or Ryou couldn't hear.

Yuugi raised an eyebrow but refused to look up. He continued to clean the spotless glass case. "Huh?"

"I said that I'm sorry," Yami said, a little above a whisper this time.

Yuugi snorted. "For what? Snapping on me yesterday or what you did to me two years ago?"

Yami sighed in frustration. "You know, I want to talk to you about that; you know, what happened that day."

"I don't hear an apology for that so I will assume that you are apologizing right now for what happened yesterday," Yuugi said, peaking up at Yami through his fringe. He might have been wrong but he could have sworn he saw Yami turn red.

"Yeah, it's just, I'm really protective of my brother, he's the only thing I have left," Yami said weakly, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Why are you telling me this?" Yuugi asked.

Yami shrugged helplessly. "I have no idea; I just think that you need to know. Also, when I see you, I feel like I want to tell you everything."

Yuugi clenched his fist. "That sounded like a line from a cheesy romance fanfic. But you want to know what? It isn't. We are not lovers that we split up because of unsettled differences but are still secretly in love with each other. You did something horrible to me that I can never forgive and you are an arrogant playboy that I can't stand. So don't try to fix things between us and change you character so suddenly!" Yuugi was yelling by the end of this statement.

Yami was left with his mouth gaping open. Bakura and Ryou turned to stare at the two curiously.

Yami furrowed his eyebrows together and looked as if he were going to say something but the chiming of the store bell cut him off. Everyone turned to look as a new customer walked through the door.

"Hello? Is Yuugi Motou here?"

Yami and Bakura stared wide-eyed. They exchanged surprised glances and Yami's expression soon turned furious.

Heba stood in the open doorway, letting sunlight into the shop. He was looking down at a wallet he had in his hand and hadn't noticed Yami yet. "I ran into yesterday and I hadn't realized it but he dropped his wallet when we bumped into each other so I thought I should return…" He finally looked up from the wallet and locked eyes with Yami. His voice trailed off and his eyes widened. "…it. Yami? What are you doing here?"

Yami took his hands out of his pockets and crossed his arms over his chest, cocking his hip to the side. "I could ask you the same question. I thought you had left town a long time ago."

Heba's expression was blank as he stared at Yami. He was wearing khaki shorts and a light blue, sleeve less hoody that complimented his tan skin. He closed his jewel like eyes for a moment and then opened them again, like a drawn out blink. "I did, I was just passing by to get to a family reunion and decided to drop in for a little visit."

"Who will you be visiting, I wonder. You know that you aren't welcome here," Yami said, his eyes narrowing to slits.

Heba put a hand to his heart in mock hurt. "And here I thought that you'd be so happy to see me, Yami. Times sure do change, don't they?"

Yuugi heard something akin to a growl come from Yami. "Don't play games, now…get out."

Heba shrugged and walked up to the counter to put the brown wallet by Yuugi's hand. "Tell Atemu that I said 'hi.'"

Yuugi now knew that the sound Yami made actually was a growl. "Get out of here!" he yelled.

Now it was time for Yuugi to step in. "Hey! Now fighting in here! Besides Yami, this isn't your store; you can't decide who goes and who stays." Yuugi turned towards Heba. "I'm sorry about that; I'll walk you back to the hotel you're staying at. Ryou, can you watch the shop while I'm gone?"

Ryou nodded his head and walked over to the counter as Yuugi walked out with Heba.

When they were outside, Heba said, "Thank you, but I'm not staying at a hotel, I'm staying with cousin."

"I'll still walk you," Yuugi said.

Heba shook his head and smiled. "No, you really don't have to…" His voice trailed off when Yuugi gave him a look. "…do that. Um, okay, you can walk me home," he said with a defeated sigh.

"Can you tell me what happened back there?" Yuugi asked Heba.

"What? Do you mean the fight between me and Yami? We always fight like that," Heba said casually, as if it were no big deal, but Yuugi saw his hand shaking.

"So, you've known Yami for a long time?" Yuugi asked.

Heba looked off into space. "Yeah, I guess I have."

"But you left town for some reason and haven't seen him in a while, right? Why?" Yuugi continued to ask.

Heba suddenly stopped in his tracks; Yuugi stopped a few paces in front of him. "Yeah," the boy said, just above a whisper. He looked down at his feet and if Yuugi didn't know any better, it looked as if he were about to start crying.

"Are you okay?" Yuugi asked, taking a few steps closer to the boy.

He put a hand on Heba's shoulder but he shrugged it off. When he looked back up, he was all smiles. "I'm fine! Don't worry about me! Listen, I can walk myself the rest of the way it isn't far; you should head back home! Thanks!" Heba said it all so fast and before Yuugi could open his mouth to speak, Heba look off in a run down the street, waving goodbye.

Yuugi stared after the boy until he turned the corner, and he knew exactly where he was going. "You're going to the hospital," Yuugi said quietly to himself.

_Meanwhile ~_

Heba stood just outside the reception area where he knew that Mana would be working. He couldn't face her though; he couldn't face those judgmental eyes that he knew she would give him. Everyone would look at him with those eyes, those eyes asking, "Why did you leave?"

But Heba Miyamoto was not weak. He did not turn away from a challenge so easily just because he was afraid of getting judged. With stiff shoulder and pursed lips, he stepped through the automatic sliding doors and was back in a place he never thought that he'd be.

It was all so familiar to him, yet unfamiliar.

He walked up to the front desk and cleared his throat quietly. Mana looked up from her work and smiled up at the boy, but the smile soon slipped away when she saw who it was. Her mouth fell open and her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "Heba?" she questioned.

The boy felt a lump forming in his throat and without another word, he turned on his heel and ran out, barely hearing Mana cry out, "Heba, wait!"

No, he couldn't face them, not yet. They would hate him. _He _would hate him. He shouldn't be here; he wasn't supposed to be here.

"_Heba, you have to leave. You being here is ruining Atemu's health. If you love him, you will leave him alone so he can heal. He is only getting worse with your presence."_

"_But…I can't leave him; he needs me now more than ever."_

"_No, you are killing him, Heba! Please, understand, you being here will only make things worse. Do you love him?"_

"…_Yes."_

"_Then leave and make sure that Atemu never sees your face again, or at least until he gets better."_

"_How should I tell him?"_

"_Don't say anything to him. Just leave him a note and get out of town as soon as you can."_

"…_Alright, you know best, Doctor Akhenaden."_

-/-

**Ranko: I told you this chapter was going to be a shorter one. Though I have to admit, I do like how this chapter turned out. **

**Yuugi: This is turning into a soap opera. **

**Yami: When will Yuugi and I get together?**

**Ranko: Okay, this is how this is going to work. We will fix Atemu and Heba's relationship first. While this is going on, puzzleshipping will develop. Then when the Atemu and Heba plot point is finished, we will move onto what you guys have all been waiting for: puzzleshipping!**

**Yami: This is going to be a long story. **

**Ranko: Actually, no, the blindshipping plot point won't take as long as you think, and then it is all puzzleshipping from there. I guess you're just going to have to see when it gets to that point. **

**Yuugi: Review! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Ranko: Oh my, goodness! I am so sorry for that last post on this story! Sorry for freaking some of you guys out! I still love this story and plan on continuing it.**

**Yami: Ranko was half asleep when she posted that.**

**Yuugi: And also she was reading the newest chapter (this one) when she was half asleep and thought it was crap.**

**Yami: So, I guess that explain everything?**

**Yuugi: (nods)**

**Ranko: I feel so bad now. Let's just answer the reviews so I can wallow in my self-misery…**

**Yami:…Lawl?**

**SokiKuro:**** Don't worry about not reviewing! I know how life goes. Anyway, I don't know, I think I still dislike Heba. I need a bit more convincing before I completely feel back for him. I think that Atemu has leukemia or something along those lines. I am looking forward to Yami and Yuugi getting together but it is taking forever (stupid character development)! Please continue to review!**

**hermoine331:**** I'm sorry, I just had to answer this review! You made me feel so loved! Thank you so much and please continue to review! I'm happy to know when people appreciate my stories! Just tell me you love my stories and we'll be friends forever ;)**

**Goshikku Hime wa Yami-san:**** "I love you, you love me…" Oh, Barney. Anyway, your review made me laugh because I thought of that! Thanks so much and please continue to review!**

**CandyFiend:**** "No, don't do that…damn it, I told you not to do that." I love your reviews! They just make me smile =) Thank you so much for being awesome and please continue to review!**

**Daemon Luciel:**** Yours was the longest review so I had to answer it ;) I got all of your reviews for all of the chapters at once and I was so overwhelmed! Thank you muchly! Yami and Yuugi will get together (eventually) but first there has to be character development (stupidest thing ever)! I feel the same way about Heba and Atemu, I'm not sure if I like Heba yet. Thanks for being awesome and please continue to review!**

**Yami: So, yeah, you know what I'm going to say. Ranko twin owns nothing, no surprise there.**

**Yuugi: And you also know what Ranko is going to say…**

**Ranko: Is it, "enjoy?"**

-/-

Yuugi took a deep breath and then sighed it out, carrying a bouquet of flowers tucked in the crook of his elbow. He quickly put on a smile and pushed the door to Atemu's hospital room open. "Atemu?" he called quietly, afraid that the young man might have been asleep.

Luckily, the tanned boy was sitting up in his bed reading a book when Yuugi came in. He looked surprised at first, shocked even, but he recovered quickly and he looked pleased that Yuugi was here. "Oh, Yuugi, it's you," he said smiling, marking the page in his book and putting it on his bedside table.

Yuugi approached his bed and sat down at the chair that was always pulled up to Atemu's bedside. He felt uncomfortable sitting where Yami usually sat but he pushed those thoughts to the back of his head and continued to smile at Atemu. "I'm sorry, did I come at a wrong time."

Atemu snorted, a trait that Yuugi thought didn't fit the man's personality that well. "Yeah, because I'm so busy sitting in my room bored out of my mind."

This startled a laugh out of Yuugi. "Just thought I'd ask."

Not a moment passed before Atemu said, "I'm glad that you did come Yuugi."

Yuugi tilted his head to the side cutely. "Oh, why?"

"I wanted to apologize about what happened the other day," he said with no shame in his voice but his face flushed a deep red. Yuugi remembered that day three days ago. It was probably one of the scariest days of his life. He still remembered Atemu's desperateness, Yami's anger, and then meeting Heba.

He didn't know which was worse, that day or the day afterwards when Heba came to the Game Shop.

Yuugi didn't let any of these thoughts show on his face and smiled sympathetically at Atemu. "I understand, you were delusional from the fever, I'm just glad that you're better."

Atemu breathed a sigh of relief, but that relief was short lived whenever Yuugi said, "I just want to know one thing, who is Heba?"

Of course, Yuugi already had a vague idea of who Heba was; he just wanted to see Atemu's reaction.

It wasn't a good one.

Despite his tan complexion, the man paled considerably. "Why would you ask a silly question like that? He's no one, I don't even know who he Heba is," the man said in a failed attempt to maintain his composure.

Yuugi furrowed his eyebrows together. "Obviously he is someone or you wouldn't have called me by that name whenever you were sick the other day."

"Why are you here, Yuugi?" Atemu asked. The shorter boy was taken aback with hearing Atemu say this for once and not Yami. "Not to be rude," the man quickly continued, "but you have school today and I really don't want you to be late."

Yuugi nodded his head sullenly. He could tell that Atemu felt uncomfortable talking to Yuugi about this. Talking about Heba must still be sensitive for the man. Yuugi inwardly shook his head. He put the flowers on Atemu's bedside table and got up to leave.

"You're right, I can't afford to be late for another one of my classes or else my grandpa will be upset with me. I'll see you after school, Atemu," Yuugi called as he left the man's room.

Atemu sat up in his bed a few moments longer, looking a bit awe struck. Then he got out of bed and went to his window where he watched Yuugi disappear in the direction of the school building.

Atemu smiled and shook his head. He went back over to his bed and picked up the bouquet of flowers. Attached to the flowers was a small note.

_**To: Atemu Sennen**_

_**From: Heba**_

Atemu's eyes widened and he threw the bouquet of flowers across the room; the flowers exploded when it hit the wall. Atemu fell to his knees, breathing hard and trying to get that stupid voice out of his head.

"_I love you, Atemu. Nothing will ever change that."_

Atemu started to cry; the only time he would ever cry was when he was alone so no one could see how weak he actually was. His heart would be breaking at this moment if Heba hadn't have taken it away when he left.

_Meanwhile ~_

Yuugi ran the rest of the way to school, hoping to get there before they closed the front gates. He quickly checked his watch and saw that he would make it just in time if he didn't slow down.

He didn't know what to think or feel after that conversation with Atemu this morning. Atemu seemed like such a normal guy, he would never guess that he was as sick as he was from just looking at him.

Yuugi had to admit though, it was stupid of him to bring up Heba in front of Atemu, but who could blame him really? Yuugi had been dragged into the twins' life whether he liked it or not and he wanted to know what he was getting himself into.

Yuugi did something very cruel to Atemu though. He wrote Heba's name on the card in the flowers. He wanted to stay long enough to see Atemu's reaction when he saw the name on the card, but Yuugi could guess that it was probably not a good one.

Now he felt like a horrible person; he shouldn't have done that.

His thoughts were abruptly cut short whenever he made a collision with someone who was turning the corner sharply and was also running very fast. They knocked each other off their feet and Yuugi was lucky that he didn't crack his head open on the sidewalk.

Before Yuugi even had a chance to register the pain in his backside, he was helped to his feet by the person he ran into…or ran into him. "Hey, are you okay?"

Yuugi blinked whenever the voice of the person sounded familiar to him. He looked up through his bangs and saw Yami looking at him but not really looking at him. Then he registered the hands on his shoulders…Yami's hands. Yuugi inwardly cringed and shrugged them off of him.

"What the hell? What was that, Yami?" Yuugi asked, forgetting his rush to get to school.

Yami looked like he wasn't paying attention to Yuugi much; it looked like he wanted to run away. He didn't even look hurt whenever Yuugi brushed his hands off his shoulders. "Sorry, I didn't see where I was going; I'm kind of in a rush."

Yuugi blinked and then remembered his own purpose for running. "Oh, shit! I'm gonna be late for school!"

"Yami-darling!" A high pitched voice, with a slight accent, called from a short distance away.

Yami turned around fearfully, spotting what he was running from. Out of instinct, he snatched up Yuugi's wrist and he sprinted in the direction of the school dragging Yuugi behind him.

Yuugi's short legs had trouble keeping up with Yami's pace and when he complained about this Yami stopped only for a moment to put Yuugi on his back so he could carry the boy piggy-back. He then continued his run, going faster than he did whenever he had Yuugi running beside him.

Whoever had been chasing them had obviously given up or this person had fallen behind. Yami ran through the front gates, with Yuugi on his back, right before they closed them. He huffed for breath and set Yuugi back down on his feet.

The two boys exchanged looks and then started to laugh. "What the hell was that?" Yuugi asked, his eyebrows raised.

Once Yami regained his breath, he pointed in the direction behind them. "That…was me running away from someone who has been obsessed with my since elementary school. Her name was Vivian Wong."

The name rang a bell in Yuugi's head. "Oh yeah, she used to be mine and Anzu's friend. That is, until she thought she was too good for us when she met some guy from another school." Yuugi gave Yami a look and if Yuugi didn't know any better, he would have thought he was blushing.

"Yeah, well…" Yami said sheepishly.

Yuugi soon remembered who he was talking to and suddenly felt very uncomfortable. He had had enough of this awkward moment and said, "Well, I better get to my class. I don't want to be more late than I already am." Before Yami could respond, Yuugi was already gone, running to Kujaku-sensei's classroom.

Of course, he had to go out in the hall and hold buckets of water for the rest of the class period. He sighed in annoyance and imagined if Yami was doing to same thing. Yuugi snorted; of course he wouldn't be doing this, his charm would get him out of it…wait, why was he thinking about Yami?

Yuugi shook his head to clear himself of those thoughts when new ones came to his mind. Some of those thoughts made Yuugi shout in surprise as he came to a sudden revelation.

He did know one person who could tell him who Heba was if it wasn't Atemu; Yami. Yami was so close to Atemu that it wouldn't surprise him if he knew everything Atemu knew. As much as he hated to admit it, Yami could help him in this situation.

Just before the end of the period, Kujaku-sensei let him back in the classroom and Yuugi went through the rest of his morning classes, waiting anxiously. When they were dismissed for lunch, Yuugi bolted out of his seat and went to search for Yami. The only time in his life when Yuugi would willingly search for Yami.

Who he found instead was Heba…standing at the front gates of the school, leaning against the brick wall. The boy's tan skinned seemed to glow in the afternoon light. The two spotted each other at the same time and Heba smiled shyly, walking over to Yuugi. Yuugi stood there, still in complete shock.

"Hey," Heba said meekly.

"H-hi," Yuugi said, cursing himself for stuttering.

Heba sighed. "Listen, I'm sorry for what happened the other day. You know, me and Yami fighting in your shop; that was uncalled for. And about…just running away like that."

Yuugi smiled sweetly at the boy. "Oh, don't worry about it."

"But I didn't come all the way here just to apologize to you," Heba continued. "I wanted to tell you that whatever Yami says about me to you probably isn't true. He thinks I'm such a bad guy; I made a lot of wrong choices in the past that I regret with all my heart." Heba looked pained as he put a hand to his heart. "I loved Atemu and I…" Heba shook his head. "And I hurt him; that is why Yami hates me so much."

Yuugi had to resist gaping at Heba. The boy looked so hurt and the look in his deep amethyst eyes told Yuugi that Heba still loved Atemu.

Heba shook his head. "I'm sorry for wasting your time; I just wanted to tell you that." And without another word, Heba walked off.

"Yuugi!" Ryou called from across the courtyard. He trotted up to Yuugi and hugged his friend from behind; Yami and Bakura were trailing behind the smaller boy. "Who was that you were talking to?"

Yami and Bakura exchanged looks, knowing exactly who that was.

Yuugi didn't answer; he just continued to look down at his feet. Ryou grew concerned for his friend and turned Yuugi around to face him. "Yuugi?" He noticed that there were tears in Yuugi's eyes. "Oh God, Yuugi, what's wrong?"

Yuugi quickly wiped his eyes before anyone else could see his tears.

"What did he say to you, Yuugi?" Yami asked.

Yuugi wanted to snap back at him with, "Why do you care, you bastard?"

Instead, Yuugi grabbed Yami's arm and dragged him off to an empty bench under a shady tree. "Hey! What the hell?" Yami cursed. "Yuugi, what is your problem? What is wrong?"

Yuugi ignored all of Yami's questions. "You have to help me," Yuugi said desperately.

Yami blushed a deep red but Yuugi just thought it was the sun. "Wh-what? Need help with what? What are you talking about? You're acting really weird today."

"You have to help me get Atemu and Heba back together," Yuugi said.

-/-

**Ranko: Can I apologize any more for what happened the other day? I realized after I posted that, that this is my baby, I just can't let it go. **

**Yami: You're so melodramatic. **

**Yuugi: But as a way of saying sorry, Ranko presents to you a small piece from the third installment of the Shadow Game series: Checkmate.**

**Ranko: Make sure to review and tell me hoe stupid I was.**

_Checkmate_

"You've invited me to come—and here I am," Yuugi said, standing across from Yami.

Yami smiled and crossed his arms over his chest, as if they were old friends having a normal conversation. "Yes, and you're off to a bad start. Couldn't eve avoid this simple trap. Don't even know what Game you're playing."

Yuugi knew exactly what Game they were playing. It was the same Game they he and Yami have been playing ever since they first met in the game shop. It was a strategic game of chess that had went off for far too long. "Whatever it is, it's the last Game and I'm going to checkmate you," Yuugi said.


	8. Chapter 8

**Ranko: Hey…well, I'm back! Sorry for the late update, my life has been really busy these past few weeks. **

**Yuugi: Hey, Ranko, we only got four reviews last chapter. **

**Ranko: Oh, I know. At first I thought I had pissed a lot of people off but then I remembered that there were two chapter sevens and there is a weird rule of this site that won't let people review twice on the same chapter. **

**Yami: So what are you gonna do?**

**Ranko: (shrugs) I guess I won't answer reviews today. Let me just say that all of your reviews for the last chapter made me very happy and I appreciated them all =3**

**Yuugi: So…disclaimer?**

**Ranko: (nods) Disclaimer. **

**Yuugi: Ranko twin does not own anything related to Yu-Gi-Oh; this story does not make her a profit. **

**Yami: Can I say it this time?**

**Ranko: No…Enjoy!**

-/-

"Are you crazy?" Yami said, louder than he intended it to come out; Yuugi flinched but gave the taller boy a steady glare. "That is such a stupid idea!" Yami grabbed Yuugi's shoulders and started to shake the boy. "What possessed you to even ask me that?"

Yuugi shoved Yami's hands of his shoulders and took a few steps away from him. "Don't touch me," he hissed out; this time Yami flinched at the spiteful tone. Yuugi quickly composed himself and smoothed out his school uniform.

"Listen," Yuugi began, "I know that you love your brother and you want to protect him. But that is making you too blind to see what is right in front of you. Atemu doesn't need to be protected from Heba, he wants to get closer to him. That is why he is in so much pain, because he can't see him! Don't you see, Yami? Why can't you just let him be!"

Yuugi looked up after his rant and wanted to crawl in a corner after seeing the look he got from Yami.

"You don't know anything, Yuugi. Don't talk down to me like I am the bad guy here. Why don't you come back and talk to me again when you hear all about what happened between Atemu and Heba." Yami turned to walk off but he stopped when Yuugi called after him.

"Don't you think I want to know what happened? But everyone is pushing me away. I was shoved into this mess of your life and I have the right to know!" Yuugi yelled, flushing red from anger, feeling tears sting his eyes.

Yuugi thought it was ironic that he indirectly asked Yami to tell him the story between Heba and Atemu when that was his original purpose when he went looking for Yami earlier that day.

"You think you have the right, but you don't." Yami began to walk away again, not even looked back at Yuugi. Yuugi was not going to take that, however.

Yuugi huffed and tackled Yami to the ground, wrapping his legs around his waist and hugging Yami's shoulders tightly.

"What the hell?" Yami cried, trying to pry Yuugi off of him; Yuugi held on tighter.

There was a struggle for a few minutes, Yami making as much noise as possible so someone could hear him and help get Yuugi off of him. Bakura and Ryou finally showed up and Yami thanked every deity he could think of until…

Bakura walked onto the scene of Yuugi attached to Yami's back, Ryou trailing behind him a few steps. Bakura stopped short and Ryou nearly ran into him. Ryou looked over Bakura's shoulder and saw his best friend like that; the boy giggled.

Bakura paled and slowly started to back away whenever Yuugi shot him a menacing (cute) glare. He grabbed Ryou by his arm. "I think we better leave these two alone, Ryou."

Ryou pouted and gave Bakura a look, as if to say, "I miss all of the fun." But Ryou followed his boyfriend back to class nonetheless.

"Asshole!" Yami called out after Bakura. "Yuugi, seriously, let go! We're gonna be late for class!"

"I don't care, this is more important!" Yuugi said.

"Why the hell do you care so much about my life?" Yami cried in outrage.

"Because—" Yuugi started but Yami cut him off.

"Why do you want to be a part of our lives? Why do you care? After everything that I've done to you, why are you being so stubborn about this?" Yami shouted.

"Because…well, I don't know!" Yuugi said pathetically. "I guess it is just because I am a good person and I don't like to watch other people who are suffering."

Yami had ceased his struggle to detach Yuugi from his back and just casually leaned on his elbows. "Wow, you don't sound conceited."

Yuugi slapped Yami's head. "Shut up," he grumbled under his breath.

Yami sighed and rested his head in the cool grass. "You're not going to get off me until I tell you Atemu and Heba's story, are you?"

Yuugi had on a pondering look and then shook his head. "Nope."

Yami sighed. "Well, we're going to be late to class anyway. Alright, I'll tell you, just get off of me!"

Yuugi instead decided to sit on Yami's back.

"What the hell!" Yami shouted, trying to throw Yuugi off of him.

"I don't want you to run," Yuugi said logically.

Yami didn't see the logic. "That is stupid."

Yuugi gave him a look; Yami held up his hands in surrender. "Alright, whatever. Okay, so Heba, Atemu and I grew up together, we all lived in the same neighborhood since we were five. You see, Heba moved next door to us when he was five and he basically pulled Atemu out of his shell; he was really shy back then and I spent most of my time playing outside."

Yuugi thought about this for a moment and nodded. "I believe it." Considering that Atemu was still a little meek.

"So, Heba was Atemu's first real friend and we all played together after that. Went to the same schools and everything. Atemu and Heba were always closer to each other though. This is where it gets really cheesy, but they started to develop feelings past friendship for each other but they were both too stupid to see that the other felt the same way."

Yuugi had to resist the urge to say, "Aww!"

"Anyway, I finally pushed the two together when they were in middle school, I think. They were together for years but then our parents…" Yami shook his head. "And then Atemu got sick and it all just went down hill from there. Heba and I spent a lot of our time in that hospital room, just being with Atemu. That made my brother really happy, he said all he needed was the two of us and he would be fine."

Yuugi was really starting to get into the story; he subconsciously leaned forward. "What happened then?"

"Atemu got even sicker and we thought we were going to lose him; during one of the most horrible moments of Atemu's live, Heba left him. All he left was a damn note and then he was gone." Yami gritted his teeth in anger. "Atemu had to go to a physiologist after that because he got suicidal thoughts and actions. All because of Heba, he just left."

Yuugi had to cover his mouth to keep from gaping.

"I haven't seen Heba since I saw him at your Game Shop. Now do you understand, Yuugi? Heba hurt him more than you know. So don't run your mouth without knowing the whole truth first."

Yami stood up abruptly, making Yuugi fall backwards and land on his backside. Yami stood over Yuugi but refused to make eye contact with the boy. Yami walked back to the school building, leaving Yuugi alone on the hard ground.

Yuugi still sat there, trying to register all of his information. He couldn't believe it, he had no idea how bad it really was. He couldn't understand how someone like Heba could do something like that.

What was he talking about, he barely knew Heba; he couldn't say something like that.

Still…he couldn't get that look in Heba's eyes out of his head. That guilt and longing, the loneliness and desperation. He may not know Heba that well, but he knew that look in his eyes. Something was not right here, and he wanted to figure out what it was.

Yuugi got up and brushed the grass off of his butt, and then running back to the school building.

First, he needed to get to class.

_Later that day ~_

Yami sighed, it had been a long day at school. First, the run in with Vivian, which still made him jumpy just thinking about it. And then talking with Yuugi. He regretted telling Yuugi everything as soon as he left the boy. What was he thinking?

That's right, he wasn't thinking. Curse those wide, innocent eyes that would make anyone spill their guts with just a bat of an eyelash.

Yami shook his head to clear those thoughts and quickly began to pack up his things. He could not have those thoughts; the last time he had those thoughts they took over and then he hurt Yuugi. He had learned how to control his thoughts and actions when he was around the boy now.

Even though it did take a while and a lot of endurance; every time he saw the boy he just wanted to…

Yami smacked himself as he felt his face get hotter. No, enough of that. Besides, he had things to do. He had to get to the hospital and see his brother.

Yami strolled down the familiar streets and thought he spotted a boy with sun-kissed skin and multi-colored hair. Yami felt his heart leap to his throat and all his nerves tingle. But thankfully, it was not who he thought it was. He felt himself relax and continued to walk to the hospital.

When he walked through the glass doors, he nodded to Mana, without bothering to check in; he had been here enough. But when he got to the swinging doors, they didn't open. He looked towards Mana's desk and saw her motioning for him to get over there.

Yami's eyebrows knitted together in confusion but went over anyway. Mana smiled at him, her perfect white teeth all in a row wearing her hot pink scrubs. But her eyes were not as bright as the rest of her; her eyes were full of anxiety.

"Is everything alright, Mana? Is my brother okay?" Yami asked, immediately jumping to the worst possible conclusion; or most likely conclusion considering Atemu's state of health.

Mana nodded. "Atemu is fine, this has nothing to do with your brother. I just wanted to tell you that…" Mana's voice trailed off and she chewed on her bottom lip.

Yami raised an eyebrow and motioned for her to continue. "What?"

"Well, you see, I saw Heba yesterday," Mana said. Yami felt like someone was choking him from the inside of his throat. "Here at the hospital," Mana continued, not noticing Yami's distress.

Yami scowled. "Was he in Atemu's room?"

Mana stared at Yami like he had just grown horns on his head. "No, he just came in and left, he didn't even leave the lobby."

Yami nodded. "Okay, I have to talk to Atemu," he said, waiting for Mana to let him through the doors.

They swung open and Yami didn't even remember the walk to his brother's room. All he remembers is standing outside of Atemu's room and listening to this conversation…

"Atemu, please," he heard Mahad say to his brother.

"No, I can't do it, I can't ask that from my brother," Atemu said, his voice weak.

"Atemu," Mahad said, sounding tired, "it is the only chance you have at survival."

"I can't ask for my brother's bone marrow!" Atemu finally shouted.

Yami stared wide-eyed into space as he tried to register everything he had just heard. He felt so lost and scared; he didn't even remember the last time he had felt that way. He stumbled back a few steps, as if someone had pushed him. His brother was dying…and he needed his bone marrow to live.

How long had Mahad and Atemu known this? Why did they keep it from him all of this time? He felt like he was going to be sick.

Hoe could things get any worse at this point?

"Yami?"

The man in question turned when a familiar voice called his name. Standing in the middle of the clean white halls of the hospital was Heba.

Things just got worse.

-/-

**Ranko: Something just hit the fan.**

**Yami: Y U no make longer chapter!**

**Ranko: …That was weird. I'm sorry for the shorter chapter guys but I just needed this chapter to build up to what is going to happen next chapter. **

**Yuugi: We hope that you enjoyed the little back story Yami provided about Atemu and Heba.**

**Ranko: Please review and tell me what you think!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Ranko: One more week until spring break! Yay!**

**Yami: Then you have to study for the ACT! Yay!**

**Ranko: Do you live to ruin my good mood?**

**Yami: If I said yes?**

**Yuugi: Then I would hurt you.**

**Yami: …So…how many reviews do we have to answer. **

**Yuugi: That's what I thought. **

**SokiKuro:**** I believe that our dear Heba might have been forced to go to the hospital, which you will see in this chapter ;) Anyway, yeah, when I was writing Atemu and Heba's past I was thinking of every romantic anime I have seen. And poor Bakura, he may be tough but no one should mess with Yuugi when he's mad! Please continue to review!**

**Daemon Luciel:**** Yeah, our little Yuugi can be scary and very stubborn at times! I just loved writing that scene, just because I could imagine sweet Yuugi's face contorted with anger. I guess he surprised us all when he tackled Yami to the ground, but it was still really funny (in my opinion). Poor Bakura had to come in at the wrong time, didn't he? And the back story between Atemu and Heba was sweet, wasn't it? Apparently it was "pick on Yami" day last chapter. And I have always ended my chapters with cliff-hangers ever since my first story, I don't know why =3 Please continue to review!**

**Goshikku Hime wa Yami-san:**** Dun dun duuuuuuuuuun! Here is the update! Please continue to review (they make me smile). =3**

**lilpopsplash:**** Your wish may come true sooner than you expected ;) Please continue to review!**

**SincereJoyy:**** I believe that you are right, my dear reader. Yeah, life does suck but I just don't understand why it has to! Thank you in regards to the preview for Checkmate, I hope to start working on it soon. Thank you for the support and please continue to review!**

**SoaringSparrow1318:**** I saw your username and I thought of Jack Sparrow! I worship that man (not really)! I don't plan on discontinuing this story any time soon, so you don't have to worry about that. Everyone has been telling me that they liked it when Yuugi tackled Yami to the ground; I guess Yuugi is stronger than he looks. I really hope Atemu doesn't die but I'm not going to give any spoilers. The puzzleshipping will come, be patient child (I call everyone "child"). Please continue to review!**

**Yami: Ranko twin does not own anything!**

**Ranko: Enjoy!**

-/-

_Earlier that day ~_

Yuugi stood behind the glass counter of the Game Shop, drumming his fingers irritably, just waiting for that little bell above the door to ring. He was waiting for someone, someone that was very important and judging by the time, quarter till four, he should be here very soon.

Unless, of course, he decided not to come and see Yuugi; then Yuugi would be upset. Before Yuugi could ponder thoughts like these any more, he heard the blessed sound of the bell jingle as someone pushed the door to the Game Shop open.

"Hello?" Heba called as he entered the shop. Yuugi sat up when he saw Heba and rushed over, around the counter, to greet him.

"Hi, Heba," Yuugi said sweetly; without Heba noticing, he flipped the sign on the door from OPEN to CLOSED.

"Um, hi," Heba said warily. "So, uh, you called me and told me to come over to the Game Shop so we could talk."

Yuugi nodded; he had gotten Heba's cell phone number from Seto. "I want to talk to you about Atemu," Yuugi said.

Heba's eyes widened. "I don't think I can do that Yuugi."

"Why the hell not?" Yuugi questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Heba blinked when he heard Yuugi curse. "Well, its complicated and I really don't want to talk about it."

"Listen," Yuugi began, "I already know about what happened between you and Atemu. I heard it all from Yami."

Heba sucked in a sharp breath. "What exactly did Yami tell you?"

This caught Yuugi off guard. "Well, he told me—"

"Because I can guarantee that most of it isn't true," Heba said, cutting Yuugi off.

Yuugi raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh, really?"

Heba gave Yuugi a look at the boy's tone. "Let me guess, Yami told you something about how selfish I was because when Atemu needed me the most, I just left him. Well, that is shit!"

Yuugi jumped back in surprise. "What?"

Heba's face was flushed red with anger. "Yes, I did leave Atemu when he was sick but what no one knows is this. I was forced to leave! I had no choice! It was that damn doctor's fault! He told me that if I loved Atemu then I would leave because I was preventing him from getting any better."

Yuugi blinked in surprise. "I can't imagine Mahad doing something like that."

Heba shook his head furiously. "No, not Mahad! It was Atemu's previous doctor, his uncle! So I listened to him and left, just leaving a damn note because I thought it was the right thing to do! Can you blame me though?" Heba was crying now. "I was told that my love was dying and that the only way to save him was to leave instead of being by his side at his hour of need."

Heba dropped to his knees, crying into his hands. Yuugi stood there awkwardly, unsure of what he should do. He awkwardly reached out a hand to put it on Heba's shoulder but the boy shrugged it off.

Yuugi bit his bottom lip and dropped to his knees beside Heba and hugged the boy as he cried. This time, Heba made no move to move away from Yuugi's touch. "You can be with him now," Yuugi whispered.

This caught Heba's attention. He squirmed out of Yuugi's hug and looked at the boy, confused. "Huh?" he asked.

"Atemu," Yuugi clarified. "You can still be with Atemu when he needs you. This is his hour of need, so go to him. Be there for him and make up for leaving all those years ago." Yuugi rubbed a tear away from Heba's cheek. "You still have time."

Heba stared into Yuugi's eyes for a moment. He was a strange boy. He always saw the good side of things and the way his eyes lit up, like there was hope for a better future, it gave Heba hope. Heba nodded and stood up so quickly he knocked Yuugi over on his haunches.

"You're right," Heba said before running out of the shop and towards the hospital.

_Present ~_

Yes, Heba was surprised when he overheard the conversation between Mahad and Atemu, devastated actually. But he was even more surprised when he rounded the corner and saw Yami standing there.

He shouldn't have been surprised. Yami had a right to visit his sickly brother but talk about bad timing, huh?

Heba took a hesitant step towards Yami; he really didn't know what to do or what to say. First thing to do though was to catch his breath. He got tired very easily and after running from the Game Shop to the hospital, he was winded.

"Yami," Heba began.

Yami shook his head. "No, I don't want to speak to you. What ever you say will not change my feelings towards you."

"Please, Yami, listen to me," Heba pleaded. "We used to be friends, I know that you don't like me anymore because of what you think I did all those years ago…"

"What I know you did," Yami spit out with contempt.

Heba pushed on. "But you need to know the truth!"

"Listen to him, Yami!" someone called from behind Heba. Heba and Yami both turned and saw Yuugi standing there with his thin arms crossed over his chest. "Get your head out of your ass and actually open your ears for once!" Yuugi snapped. "You may even be surprised at what Heba has to say, but you'll never know unless you shut up."

Heba and Yami gaped at the great anger that was radiating from such a little body; none the less, it shut Yami up. He exchanged a frightened glance with Heba before turning towards the boy fully and patiently waiting for what he had to say.

Heba took a deep breath, almost losing his nerve and running away. But he was done running. He had been running away for years and he was tired of it. He ran away from Atemu, his love, and he ran away from his feelings and guilt. He ran away and left who he used to be behind, unable to catch up, leaving the boy alone in the dark and cold wasteland of Heba's tortured mind.

"Yami," Heba began, his voice cracking; Yuugi cringed and internally cheered the boy on. "Yami, you do remember when you're uncle was Atemu's doctor, right? Before Mahad?"

Yami cringed at the mention of his uncle; he hated that man. He was always rude to Atemu and him. "Yeah, I remember."

"He forced me to leave," Heba blurted right out, without beating around the bush.

This surprised a laugh out of Yami. "I refuse to believe something like that! You can't force anyone to do anything!"

Heba turned red. "Oh, really? Even if that person told you that to save the person you love you have to leave them alone? Would that be enough persuasion to make someone leave?"

Yami immediately sobered. "My uncle said that to you?"

Heba nodded, his chest was beginning to ache. "Yes, I realize now that what he said was a lie but back then, I was desperate. I couldn't stand leaving Atemu, not when he was in so much pain. But I thought that it was best for him at the time. I still love him with all my heart; please, you have to believe me, Yami," Heba pleaded.

Yami just stare at the boy wide eyed, his mouth agape. He looked over to Yuugi for help but the smaller boy shrugged. While Yami was doing his best impression of a fish, Heba snuck past him into Atemu's room.

When he entered, Atemu was hunched over on his best, hacking and coughing up blood as Mahad rubbed his back soothingly, waiting for it to pass over. When the doctor saw Heba, he gaped at the boy. He had never met Heba personally but he had heard enough about him.

Heba smiled and shook his head. He walked over to stand by Atemu's bedside and rested his hand on the taller man's back, rubbing his hand in circles; Mahad stepped away. Heba smiled fondly as Atemu's coughing ceased. Heba remembered how Atemu hated him to see him like this, but Heba would stay anyway and rub circles on his back; he remembered Atemu saying that he liked it better than someone just rubbing his back.

Atemu wiped his mouth after his coughing fit and looked up…and he froze. He rubbed his eyes, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. He thought maybe he was having another one of his delusions.

"Yuugi?" he asked hesitantly.

Heba shook his head. "No, it's me…Heba."

-/-

**Yami: What the hell, why did you cut it off there? You are an evil writer!**

**Yuugi: I have to agree with Yami on this one! What just happened?**

**Ranko: Calm down, you really don't think I'm that mean do you?**

**Yami&Yuugi: Uh, yeah!**

**Ranko: Thanks, love you guys too. Nope, this time no cliff-hanger! On with the story!**

-/-

Yami and Yuugi stood in the doorway to Atemu's room. Yami began to take a step forward but Yuugi put a hand on the man's shoulder to stop him. Yami turned around to say something to Yuugi but the boy shook his head and pointed in Atemu and Heba's direction.

Atemu was staring at Heba disbelievingly; it was as if someone was playing a cruel joke on him and he wasn't going to give in. But he could feel Heba's warm, tiny hand on pressing against his back. This Heba standing in front of him was the real one, just not another sick dream that always left him crying when he woke up.

"Heba?" Atemu asked, reaching up a hand to touch the boy's face. Heba leaned into the warm touch of Atemu's fingers against his face and put his own hand over Atemu's. "How..? What are you doing here?"

"Atemu," Heba said in his soft, sweet voice that Atemu had missed so much. "I have missed you so much. I am so sorry for leaving you all those years ago. I realize now what I did was a mistake but at the time it seemed like the right thing to do." Heba broke down in tears.

Atemu furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Heba, what are you talking about?"

"Your uncle…" Heba said between his tears and hiccups. "Your uncle told me that being with you was just making your condition worse; that staying with you caused an even greater danger on your life. So I left, because I was a coward and didn't want to see you die. I'm so sorry I left, will you ever forgive me? I understand if you won't but—"

Atemu shook his head, cutting the boy off. "Heba, I forgive you but what I really want to know is what you are doing here?"

Yuugi blinked and nudged Yami's side. "Hey," he whispered. "Did your brother really forgive Heba that easily?"

Yami blinked as well and shrugged, going back to listening to the couple that seemed to jump right out of a hospital soap opera.

"I was told you were dying," Heba said, tears running down his cheeks. "I wanted to be with you, like I couldn't be with you back then, when you needed me the most. I wanted to make up for my mistake."

"Ahem," Mahad cut in. "Atemu might actually not be dying."

Heba blinked away his tears and rubbed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"There is one way to save him," Mahad said, pushing his glasses to the bridge of his nose. "He needs to have a bone marrow transplant and that should keep his healthy and stable for years until there is better treatment available. The only possible healthy donor though is…" Mahad examined his clipboard and smiled, looking up at the two boys standing in the doorway. "Yuugi Motou."

There was a long stretched out silence in the room and Yuugi could swear that he heard a cricket.

"Um, what?" Yuugi finally said.

Yami whistled. "Well, this is unexpected, I thought he was going to say my name."

-/-

**Ranko: I am stopping it there though! You thought it would be Yami after all that crap about the only way Atemu could live was if Yami gave his bone marrow to Atemu! It will all be explained next chapter!**

**Yami: Ranko!**

**Ranko: Please don't kill me!**

**Yuugi: Review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Ranko: Hello all of my lovely, chickies! **

**Yami: You need to stop with the weird pet names. **

**Ranko: I'll stop when you admit you have a stash of pictures of Yuugi. **

**Yuugi: What?**

**Yami: I hate you, Ranko. **

**Ranko: That's what I thought. Anyway, it is time to answer reviews and let me just say that you guys asked very similar questions and concerns so don't feel offended if I have to repeat myself. **

**Rawritsakookye:**** The only thing I'm thinking of right now is that there has to be some meaning behind your pen name! It is just amazing and different! Love it! Anyway, here are the answer to your questions in order ;) – I can't tell you if the operation is a success, he might die (depending on the operation, reference back to answer 1), his uncle is long gone (we won't be seeing him anymore in the story). Shouldn't it be Yami who mans up and kisses Yuugi? Please continue to review!**

**lilpopsplash:**** I don't think that Atemu and Heba are officially back together now but they are no longer afraid to see each other now. And Yami could be the donor since they are twins and their bone marrow is perfectly match with each other, but Yuugi could also be the donor which will be explained in this chapter. Please continue to review!**

**Goshikku Hime wa Yami-san:**** They are not officially together yet (sorry) but they are no longer afraid to see each other. I am so happy that I made you freak out, that was my goal! But please remember to breath! The marrow donor part will be explained in this chapter so please have faith in me! Please continue to review!**

**CandyFiend:**** Ah, don't worry, no one is going to die! How did you know my one weakness was cookies? What kind? Oh my, goodness, I am such a nerd. Anyway, please continue to review!**

**Daemon Luciel:**** Ah, I feel strangely proud that I made so many people freak out at the authors note in the middle. My life is complete now! Yes, yes, I know, I have to clean up the mess I just made with that total bomb I just dropped on you guys. And I love Yuugi, he is just so cute and strong cuteness overload! Anyway, you didn't think the scene where Atemu and Heba reunited was cheesy? I don't think that Yami has fully forgiven Heba though. All shall be revealed in this chapter! Please continue to review!**

**Ranko: Yay, the hard part is over! You guys won't believe that answering reviews at the beginning is harder than writing the whole chapter!**

**Yami: Ranko twin owns nothing, obviously! She's not that creative!**

**Yuugi: Enjoy while I beat Yami senseless!**

-/-

"Um," Yuugi uttered; he couldn't believe what he had just heard. "Come again?"

Atemu nodded, looking just as shocked as Yuugi but he would bet money that no one in the room felt like Yuugi was feeling at this moment. "Yeah, Mahad, I thought you told me the only way I could live was if I had _Yami's_ bone marrow. You never mentioned Yuugi."

Mahad cleared his throat and pushed up his glasses, looking much like one of the characters from the anime Ouran High School Host Club. Yuugi shook his head; why was he thinking of something like that at this moment?

"You see," Mahad said, talking to Atemu, "you told me that you could never ask your brother of something like this. So I started doing a little research to any other possible donors in the area. It turns out that a few years ago an old woman with leukemia was registered in this hospital with a similar situation you are in, Atemu."

Atemu raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, so?"

Mahad sighed. "So, this elderly woman needed a bone marrow transplant to live."

"But, if she was as old as you said she was, why didn't she just request to die in peace of her old age," Heba cut in.

Mahad turned a sharp eye towards the smaller boy. "No one wants to die in the hospital without family there. She wanted to live longer so she could say goodbye. So there were no healthy donors in her family except for one. Her youngest grandson; he was a perfect match and he gave his bone marrow to his grandmother. Can you guess whose grandmother it was?"

Everyone in the room turned towards Yuugi who was currently looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

Mahad returned to looking down at his clipboard. "The records of the procedure are still here and so are Yuugi's donor records. He is your perfect match, Atemu. I never thought that I would be lucky enough to find the boy again, I would have thought he had moved but as fate would have it, he showed up at your doorstep one day and I knew that you could live, Atemu."

Atemu shook his head. "No, I won't, because I can't ask Yuugi to do something like that. He has helped me so much already, I don't want him to burden him anymore with my problems."

"Shut up," a light voice snapped at Atemu.

Again, heads turned towards Yuugi in surprise. What did Yuugi just say?

"Shut up," the boy said again. "You are just like your brother, you know that, Atemu. You are both idiots and stubborn. Both of you think what you are doing is for the good of others but really it just pisses people off. So quit trying to be the selfless hero in this story and accept a little help from others, got it?"

Atemu gaped and stuttered, unable to form a regular, human sentence. In fact, that is how everyone in the room seemed to be reacting to Yuugi's outburst, except Yami who just shook his head and sighed.

"Yuugi…" Atemu finally uttered out, completely stunned.

Yuugi ignored Atemu's helpless blubbering and turned towards Mahad. "When can the process be done?" Since Yuugi had to do this once before he knew how long and uncomfortable it could be as the donor and patient were both prepared for this procedure.

Mahad smiled. "We can start tomorrow, after we have you checked out of course." The older man approached Yuugi and put a comforting arm around the boy's shoulder, leading him out of the room and down the hall. "We'll get you a room to stay in and then we'll perform the necessary tests."

Yuugi cringed, he remembered those tests. For a twelve year old, those tests can be scary and painful; Yuugi couldn't help but wonder if his thoughts on it would change now that he was older.

Mahad gave another one of his smiles that just made Yuugi even more uncomfortable. "Don't worry, it's not that bad."

_Later ~_

At the end of the day, as Yuugi slumped in his hospital bed in a hospital gown, the boy came to two conclusions. One, the tests were just as scary and painful, and two, Mahad was a big, fat liar.

"_Don't worry, it's not that bad."_

Lies! Everything he said was lies! Mahad should go sit on his thrown of lies as his subjects throws his lies back in his face!

Yuugi had been heavily drugged after the long day and was blissfully unaware of his thoughts or actions at the moment. Currently, he was playing with his fingers and making them talk to each other like they were real people.

Yuugi didn't remember the treatment in the hospital being this bad when he had done the same thing for his grandmother. This was much worse. But he was just glad that now that he was older he was allowed to take Vicodin.

The whole procedure of preparation emotionally and physically drained Yuugi. He didn't know what he would do if he had a fear of needles, considering how many were poked into the crook of his elbow today. He wanted to cry halfway through the process; at that point he just wanted to sleep. But he had to remind himself he was doing this for Atemu. Tomorrow, it would all be over and he could return to his normal life.

He could go back to school, hang out with his friends, work at the Game Shop, and Yami…what about Yami? When was the last time Yuugi had even talked to him?

The boy felt an empty feeling in his chest at the thought of how long it has been since he had talked to Yami. He knew that he should hate the man for what he had done to him two years ago; Yami had nearly raped him! But he couldn't find it in his heart to do it, it hurt him every time.

He loved being around Yami, he was like Yuugi's best friend as much as the boy hated to admit it.

Yuugi shook his head to clear himself of those thoughts; stupid Vicodin.

But still, he couldn't deny these strange feelings he always got when he was near Yami…it made him want to just pound on his chest to make it go away and sometimes he would do that sometimes.

To save Yuugi from going deeper into these thoughts, someone knocked on the boy's door. Yuugi cleared his throat and called, "Come in."

Yami…great, just who he needed right now.

"Hey," the taller boy said awkwardly, taking a few long strides into the room until he was standing by Yuugi's bedside.

"Hi," Yuugi replied back, just as uncomfortable. Now was not the time for this. Why, oh why did God have a sense of humor?

"So," Yami said scratching the back of his neck reminding Yuugi of what nervous anime characters often did. "I just wanted to thank for you doing this for my brother. I mean, it means a lot to me. He is the only family I have left and I don't want to lost him."

Yuugi tried to clear the Vicodin cloud from his brain to answer seriously. "Yeah, well, I understand how it feels to love someone close to you and I would never wish that feeling even on my worst enemy."

Yami laughed. "That's good to know, considering that I am your worst enemy."

"No, you're not." Damn it, why did he have to say that?

"What?" Yami asked in surprise.

Yuugi pushed the covers off his body and got up on his knees on his bed; he was almost eye level is Yami. "You are not my worst enemy, actually, I really like you…a lot."

Before Yuugi even knew what he was doing, he was leaning in to kiss Yami and then all of his senses went numb when he felt the other boy's soft lips press against his own.

No! Why was his body doing things that his mind wasn't in control of? Bad body; bad!

Personally, Yuugi was using the excuse of him being under the influence of drugs.

Before Yuugi could get into the kiss, Yami pushed Yuugi back on his back and ran out the door without another word. The sudden wave of movement left Yuugi with such a pounding headache that he didn't question, wasn't even offended, that Yami ran out without a word.

Instead, he reached towards the bottle of Vicodin by his bed to relieve the pain of his sudden headache. He read the label. How long did he have to wait before taking another Vicodin? Four hours because that is when the effects begin to wear off. When was the last time he had taken a Vicodin? Five hours…

Shit.

_Elsewhere ~_

Yami stood just outside of Yuugi's room, leaning against the wall and breathing heavily. What was that? What just happened in there? Yuugi was suddenly…and then he was…and then…and then…he ran away like a freaking coward.

But he had to, if he stayed in there too long then he might lose control and he didn't want to hurt Yuugi again, not when the boy was finally starting to soften up towards him. But Yuugi…he was just so…so…it should be a crime for a boy to be that pretty.

Damn Vicodin.

-/-

**Ranko: Yes, this is a short chapter, but I thought it was also really funny and cute. Did everyone understand the Vicodin joke at the very end when Yuugi was reading the label? If you are confused, just ask me and I will explain!**

**Yami: Also, Ranko would like to apologize to her limited knowledge when it comes to leukemia and bone marrow transplant. She is just going off what she found on the internet so please, don't hesitate to correct her if she is wrong in anyway; she does not want to offend anyway by her false information. **

**Yuugi: This chapter was centered around Puzzleshipping but next chapter is hopefully going to be more Blindshipping, so please remind Ranko this in your review because she will forget. **

**Ranko: Have a nice spring break guys, I love you all!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Ranko: Whoa…are you guys still here, I can't believe you have stayed with me through this big mess of a story.**

**Yami: Anyway, we will have blindshipping this chapter, if Ranko is not being lazy today. **

**Yuugi: Knowing her, she probably is so let's just answer some reviews. **

**Goshikku Hime wa Yami-san:**** Yeah, he is busted! Thank you for the words of encouragement, I'm glad that someone thinks so of this story. Anyway, please continue to review!**

**lilpopsplash:**** No, I'm sorry, you were the second person to review. But I still appreciate it just as much! I'm glad that you understand what is going on now, and ask any questions you want in your review! Please continue to review!**

**Black Rose of Fire:**** =3 No kiss yet, sorry. They were close to kissing but Yami ran out…because he is a wuss. Anyway, thank you and please continue to review!**

**freeasabird13:**** Your review made me feel so loved! Thank you so much for your kind words, I am glad that you are enjoying this story; it makes writing all worth it! After reading your review I felt even worse for updating late. You be so nice to me! Please continue to review, it is like my drug!**

**Great:**** Thanks a jillion =3 I know, bad Yuugi is high off of Vicodin (not really) and I just realized that is the drug House takes (love that show)! There will be a kiss eventually, maybe not super special awesome sexy kiss but a kiss nonetheless! Please continue to review!**

**Rawritsakookye:**** Does your username mean something? Because it is really cool. No! Vicodin! My old foe! We meet again (insert evil laugh here). Thank you and please continue to review!**

**Slifer-san:**** Well then, wait no longer! I bring forth an update! Yeah…I'm strange. Please continue to review!**

**Unattainable Dreams:**** I have a story for you. I opened my inbox and I just got this whole long stream of e-mail alerts on reviews, all from you! I was like, "Holy crap, someone must love me!" So thank you so much, I just sat there for five minutes and read them (cause I'm easily distracted—Squirrel!). Yeah, our little Yuugi don't let no one screw with him! Vicodin loves you for your appreciation :) And because you are so awesome, I have an update for you! Please continue to review!**

**Ranko: I must love you guys for answering all these reviews for you, which I am almost at the 100 mark. Yay!**

**Yami: Ranko twin owns nothing!**

**Yuugi: Enjoy!**

**Ranko: Hey, that's my line!**

-/-

Atemu lay still in his bed, his breathing was even and his heart monitor gave off a steady beating to assure Heba that he was still alive. Heba sat curled up in a ball in the chair by Atemu's bed just watching the man breath, seeing his features relax making him look vulnerable and human.

Heba sighed; he was so tired though he didn't know why. It could be because of all the stress he has been under lately. Yuugi had convinced him to come to the hospital after all these years and when he saw Yami he almost had a heart attack. He realized he wasn't ready to face Atemu yet and if Yuugi hadn't shown up when he did, Heba would have left.

Then he found out Atemu was dying and needed a bone marrow transplant to live; Yuugi was willing to do that thankfully. And Atemu forgave him but that didn't mean that he still loved him. That was what was wearing heaviest on Heba's mind right now.

Without thinking, Heba got up and sat on the edge of Atemu's bed, beginning to play with his bangs. He used to do this all the time when Atemu was asleep, awake, or right after a long treatment that left him exhausted.

Suddenly Atemu's hand shot up and grabbed Heba's wrist. Heba let out a little squeak of surprise and looked down to see Atemu staring at him.

"Atemu," Heba said in a quiet voice; Atemu's eyes didn't leave him. "H-how long have you been awake?"

Atemu did not look away from Heba. After a few moments of not saying anything, Atemu tugged on Heba's wrist, pulling him on top of Atemu and then flipped them over so Atemu was on top. "I was never asleep." Then he kissed Heba.

Heba lay unresponsive under Atemu for a few moments, blinking up at him. Then he realized what was happening; his eyes widened and he shoved Atemu away. "What is wrong with you? Why did you do that?"

Atemu furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean? You came back to me, you still love me and I still love you so. Why wouldn't I kiss the one I love?"

"What?" Heba asked in shock. "You still…no!" Heba began to squirm under Atemu, trying to get the bigger man off of him. "You can't still love me, not after everything I've done."

Atemu hugged the boy to quit his squirming. "Well then, you're going to have to get over it because I still love you." Heba felt tears prick his eyes; Atemu felt something wet on his shoulder. "Please, answer me, Heba. Do you still love me?"

Heba hiccupped. "Of course I still love you."

Atemu smiled. "That's good to hear. Now if I die, I can die happy."

Heba frowned. "You're not going to die, Atemu. Yuugi is going to give you his bone marrow."

Atemu hugged Heba tighter. "Then let's treat this night like I will die tomorrow."

_Next day ~_

Yuugi groaned and lightly lowered himself onto his bed. "I am tired and sore."

Mahad smiled. "Well, that is to be expected. Thank you for being so cooperative Yuugi, you were a really big help."

Yuugi let out a weak groan in reply.

"After a bone marrow transplant, you are expected to be tired so I will leave you alone and let you rest," Mahad said kindly. "Thank you for this, Yuugi. I thank God that you came into our lives or else Atemu would have died."

Yuugi felt an even greater sense of responsibility after he said that. "I'm sure that you would have found someone else to help Atemu."

Mahad shook his head, his smile gone. "Not in time to save him, so again, thank you."

Mahad left after that, leaving Yuugi alone with his thoughts and his exhausted mind that refused to think of anything that was overcomplicated at the moment. Mahad just had to tell him that. He was happy that he could help Atemu, he just didn't know how much pressure was on him before the procedure. Atemu was so close to death and Yuugi had just saved him not under an hour ago.

Yuugi's head began to pulse from pain; Mahad was right, the transplant did tire him out. He would just sleep for five minutes…

Suddenly Yuugi's hospital room door opened and then closed silently. Yuugi sighed but refused to open his eyes…or his eyes refused to open, they were as heavy as lead. He evened out his breathing and tried to get to sleep, hoping that it was just a nurse come to check on him and then leave.

Then he heard Yami's voice. "Yuugi?" he asked quietly. "Yuugi, are you asleep?"

Yuugi tried to resist the urge to groan. He wasn't asleep but he wanted to be.

After a few moments of silence, he could only guess that Yami had taken a seat in the chair beside his bed because he could still feel Yami's presence. "Listen," Yami began. "Have I ever told you how much you piss me off?"

Yuugi bit the inside of his cheeks.

"Sorry, it's just that you are so stupid. You always have to do things for other people and you always put other people's happiness before your own. Be happy, Yuugi. That's why you piss me off. I mean, I'm happy that you did this for my brother but I just want you to think for yourself for a change. Hell, even when you sat on my back to get the truth out of me, you were doing that for me.

"Anyway, I see you hurting all the time. You are hurting when Ryou is with Bakura because you feel like you've been replaced. I don't like to see that sad look on your face and I feel like shit when I realize I am one of the reasons you have that look on your face. God, I'm a jackass, aren't I? For what I did to you a couple years ago? I still can't believe I did that. I don't even know why I did that.

"I like to tell myself that it was because I didn't want you to get close to me, but let's face it, that wouldn't have done anything. You always like to get into other people's business. I think that I did it because…I don't know, I was really stupid back then. But, what other reasons do people do something as stupid as that?"

Yuugi held his breath and waited to hear what Yami would say next.

"I love you, Yuugi. I know this is really weird, talking to someone who can't even hear me, but I love you. I always have and I don't want to be the one that puts that hurt look on your face, I want to be the one that makes you smile and be the one who can support you. I love you, even though I know you could never love me back. Oh God, I love you, I finally admitted it to myself. I love you, I love you, I love you."

Yuugi wanted to cry.

He heard Yami take a deep breath and sigh it out. "Thank you again, Yuugi. For helping my brother, I just hope some day I'll have the balls to say everything I just told you while you are awake." Yami chuckled to himself and Yuugi could imagine him getting up and going towards the door.

On his way out he whispered, "I love you, Yuugi," and left the room.

After Yuugi was sure that he was gone, he managed to peel his eyes open and sit up in his bed, fresh tears in his eyes. He looked at Yami's empty chair and replayed everything he had said in his mind.

"_I love you, Yuugi."_

He smiled to himself. "Maybe I could love you too."

-/-

**Yuugi: Where is Ranko?**

**Yami: She's tired, prom was Saturday night.**

**Yuugi: She's still tired?**

**Yami: She had a lot to do today, she didn't have time to take a nap. **

**Yuugi: Oh, well then I'll say that she won't be updating on Checkmate probably until next week and hopefully she will be updating on this story in two weeks. **

**Yami: So update on this story every other week and update on Checkmate every other week?**

**Yuugi: Alternating weeks!**

**Yami: It works, alright, as always, review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Ranko: I love updating on this story. **

**Yuugi: What is going to happen next?**

**Ranko: You'll have to read and find out!**

**Yami: Let's answer some reviews!**

**Ranko: Thanks for getting me past one hundred reviews, you guys rock!**

**Rosetorn22:**** After all the crap that Yami put Yuugi through, Yuugi is going to put that man through hell; Yami isn't going to get Yuugi that easily. It's going to be fun, but it isn't going to take up a lot of time in the story, a chapter or two maybe. Thanks for the advice and please continue to review!**

**Goshikku Hime wa Yami-san:**** …I'm scared. I will make sure that Yuugi gets your message =3 Thanks and please continue to review. **

**lilpopsplash:**** I'm glad the last chapter made you so happy. Unfortunately, since Atemu is still recovering and still slightly ill from his whole experience the hospital, I don't think he will be returning to school anytime soon. Please continue to review!**

**zestychicken2:**** Holy crap, you about gave me a heart attack. By the way you started the review I thought you were a flamer. I'm happy you're not and I'm happy that you have liked this story so much :) Why must you give me a big head? All I can say is thank you so much, that review gave me the confident boost of the day. Your review made me go back and reread the whole story. I liked your rambling, it made me feel loved! I will try to make them longer!**

**freeasabird13:**** "It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!" Sorry, nerd out moment. Thank you for taking time to review and I hope to see you on some of my other stories. Please continue to review!**

**Ranko: Thank you for all the amazing reviews that I didn't answer, I love them all!**

**Yami: Ranko twin owns nothing!**

**Yuugi: Enjoy!**

**Ranko: Why do you keep stealing my line?**

-/-

Yuugi was in Atemu's hospital room packing up the man's clothes in a small duffel bag. Today, Atemu was moving out of the hospital and going back home to live with Yami. It has been three days since the bone marrow transplant and after much observation, the doctors finally permitted Atemu to leave.

Yuugi was just as happy as Heba and Yami that Atemu was finally aloud out of the hospital for good after so many years of living in that dull white room. After a lot of discussion, it was decided that Heba would be staying with Yami and Atemu from then on, with a hesitant grunt of approval from Yami.

Atemu was sitting on the edge of his bed that he would never sleep in again, looking around the room in nostalgia, barely noticing that Yuugi was doing most of the packing. Yuugi occasionally stole glances at Atemu. One would never guess he was ever sick by the healthy glow of his skin and the shine in his ruby eyes.

It was the first time Yuugi had ever seen the man in street clothes, and Yuugi had to admit that he looked good in jeans and a t-shirt instead of the dull hospital gown that brought out the sick pallor of his skin.

"What am I going to do, Yuugi?" Atemu suddenly asked, looking down at his smooth hands that were resting on his lap. Travel up his arms to his elbow and you could see the bruises in the crook of his elbow left by the multitude of needles pricked into his skin.

"What do you mean?" Yuugi asked, stopping mid-packing.

"I've been living in this hospital for years, too sick to go outside or go back to school. I have no idea what life is like out there any more. I don't think I can ever go to high school with the education I have now and I'm still too sickly to do anything," Atemu said, wringing his hands together. "I'm useless."

Yuugi sighed and walked over to sit by Atemu. "You are not useless, don't ever say that. And I'm sure that you will be fine, besides, you won't be alone, you'll have Yami and Heba and me. You'll go back to school eventually, you'll get help and be tutored. You're life isn't over, Atemu."

Atemu looked up at Yuugi with the clearest eyes he had ever seen. "You really think so, Yuugi?"

Before Yuugi could answer, someone knocked on the door and the entered without even waiting for a response. "Hey, Atemu," Yami said, looking down at his phone and not noticing Yuugi was there as well. "It's time to go." Yami looked up and saw Yuugi. His eyes widened and they made eye contact; Yuugi could have sworn he saw a dusty pink blush flush across his cheeks.

"Y-Yuugi? What are you doing here?" he stuttered out dumbly.

Yuugi had to refrain from giggling. Oh yeah, and it has been three days since Yami confessed his love to Yuugi. "Didn't I tell you that I would be helping Atemu pack, Yami?" Yuugi said in a sweet tone, making himself look as cute as possible.

He heard Yami gulp. "Oh yeah…I-I forgot."

Yuugi rose to his feet and bent down at the waist to get Atemu's duffel bag, giving Yami a nice view of his…backside. Yuugi knew that he was being mean but after everything Yami has put him through, Yuugi deserved a little bit of fun and he had the perfect blackmail material. He was just going to let Yami suffer for a little while as Yuugi tried to figure out his feelings for the man.

Atemu saw his brother's eyes try to avoid Yuugi's ass, key word is _try_. His eyes flickered between Yuugi and Yami, and then he smirked knowingly. He always thought that his brother had feelings for Yuugi but he didn't know that they were this extreme. Atemu could obviously see what Yuugi was purposefully doing and he had to admit that it was amusing to watch.

"Can you take these, Yami?" Yuugi asked, holding the duffel bag out to Yami. Yami just stared at Yuugi for a moment, clearly un-amused. Yuugi's inner self huffed at Yami's stubbornness. Time to pull out the big guns. Yuugi made his best puppy dog face and said in a cutesy voice, "Please?"

Yami took the bag without another word, slinging it over his shoulder and quickly averting his eyes from Yuugi. Yuugi giggled silently, trying not to make his amusement too obvious. He didn't want a guilty conscious for laughing.

Yami cleared his throat. "So, Atemu, there is a cab waiting for us in front of the hospital, you ready to go?"

Atemu nodded silently and stood up, Yuugi and Yami moved forward on instinct to help him up. The man rolled his eyes and swatted their fretting hands away. He took a long glance all around the room and sighed. "Whoa, it sure is weird finally leaving this place. I mean, it has always been my dream but I never expected it to come so quickly."

Yuugi could tell that Yami didn't know what to say, the man didn't really have a way with words that was admirable, he was more on the lines of the silent comforter.

"You can go on downstairs, Yami, I'll catch up in a minute," Atemu said, which was a nice way of telling his brother to leave. Yami understood and left without another word. Yuugi turned to leave as well, thinking the man wanted privacy but Atemu suddenly grabbed Yuugi's wrist. "Not you, Yuugi, I have to talk to you."

Yuugi gulped. "What about?" He didn't look Atemu in the eye.

The man turned Yuugi around so they were facing each other. "Yami loves you, you know that right?"

Yuugi gaped. Yami's words from the other day replayed in his head, over and over, like a broken record. _I love you. I love you. I love you. I love—_

"Atemu," Yuugi said quickly, cutting off his own line of thought. "I don't know if Yami has told you our entire relationship, but—"

"Oh, I know your entire relationship," Atemu said. "I may have been trapped in this hospital for the last few years but I still know more than you think I know. I know that one day, Yami came into the hospital with a spring in his step that was all because of some boy he saw at school one day. I know that a year ago, he basically hated himself for something he did to that boy that he wished he could take back. I know that my brother is a jackass but I also know that he is just plain stupid and confused about what to feel."

Yuugi was silent for a moment. "So you know what Yami almost did to me?"

Atemu nodded. "I'm guessing that Yami some time after the bone marrow transplant a couple days ago confessed his feelings to you when he thought you were asleep."

Yuugi's mouth dropped open.

Atemu nonchalantly cleaned his fingernails. "So now you have some pretty worthy blackmail material to work with."

Yuugi crossed his arms over his chest. "I guess so."

"I'm saying this because I love my brother, Yuugi." Atemu looked up at him and Yuugi saw the most mischievous look in his eyes that he was so used to seeing in Yami's eyes. "Give my brother hell."

_Next day ~_

Malik squealed like a girl, making Yuugi want to plug his ears. It was beyond any pitch that Yuugi had ever heard and he wondered, as he looked around his new group of friends, how they have put up for the blond for such a long time.

They were sitting on the roof eating lunch when Yami told the group that Atemu was finally released from the hospital. Yuugi was glad that Yami didn't mention his name because he really did not want that inhuman squealing directing at him.

"I'm so happy for you, Yami!" Malik cried in joy, pouncing on Yami to give him a big hug.

Yuugi rolled his eyes and turned to talk to his friend Ryou. "Hey, Ryou, I've been reading this new book and it's really good."

Ryou raised his eyebrow at his friend. "What's it called?"

Yuugi waved his hand in a dismissing manner. "I don't remember, but there was this one line that I really like; it's really funny. It goes like, 'declarations of love amuse me, especially when unrequited.'"

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Yami flinch.

Ryou furrowed his eyebrows together. "That sounds really depressing."

Yuugi shrugged. "I think the author meant for it to be a funny moment in the book, but oh well, lesson learned."

Bakura obviously wasn't paying attention to the conversation his boyfriend was having with Yuugi. The white haired man turned to Malik, who was still clinging to Yami, and said, "Hey Malik, don't you have some exciting news too?"

Malik looked confused for a moment but then it dawned on him and his mouth dropped open in an 'O.' "O-oh yeah, um, you see…" His arms dropped from around Yami and he sat back on his haunches.

Yuugi was surprised to see Malik at a sudden loss for words, but when everyone saw tears start to well up in the blond's eyes, everyone jumped forward and frantically began to ask what was wrong.

"I got a call from Marik the other day." Everyone held their breath as they waited to hear what else Malik would say. "And…and he told me that his military service was over and he was coming home…for good this time."

Everyone was completely still for a moment as they tried to process everything that just came out of Malik's mouth. Then Jounouchi blinked and his mouth fell open. "Wait, are you serious?"

Malik nodded. "Yeah, he's being discharged from active duty."

Even Seto was shocked by this news but he also seemed really happy. "Whoa, I can't believe it."

Then everyone was all smiles and was shouting in excitement at the thought of one of their best friends coming home and being safe from any danger. No one seemed as thrilled as Malik though, then again, that wasn't that big of a surprise.

"When will he be here?" Yuugi asked.

Malik put a finger to his chin in thought. "Well, he told me this news Monday so his plain should arrive at nine in the morning on Saturday."

Yuugi raised his eyebrows. "Can you really wait two days to see him?"

Without any hesitation, Malik shook his head. "No, I can't wait. It has been killing me just this past week, especially not telling anyone. I wanted to wait until you and Yami were here so I could tell everyone at once. But then again, I've waited two or three years for this moment, so what is a few extra days?"

"How did Marik confess his feelings to you, Malik?" Yuugi suddenly asked.

Malik chuckled. "He didn't really. He just kind of attacked me one day. We have been friends long before we met in high school and one day while he was visiting home, he just kind of dragged me in the corner and started kissing me." Malik giggled. "To say the least I was shocked but it's not like I did anything to stop it, so we've been together ever since."

Yuugi made a face. "I don't think I could ever be together with someone who forced themselves on me." That comment was half-intended to irritate Yami.

"Well, what if that person apologizes and admits that the reason they did it is because they really have feelings for you?" Yami asked, past being upset; he was pissed now.

Yuugi shook his head. "That gives them no right to do anything they please."

"And if they just don't know any better?" Yami asked.

Yuugi looked Yami dead in the eye and said, "Well, there just stupid then."

Yami's mouth dropped open and he looked as if he were about to say a really mean comment, but he snapped his mouth shut and turned away from Yuugi, pretending as if he knew what their friends were talking about now.

Yuugi had to refrain from smirking. Check-and-mate.

-/-

**Ranko: I don't think this chapter is any longer than the other ones, but it is cute and sad. Hope I didn't overwhelm you guys too much. **

**Yuugi: I'm evil. **

**Ranko: You're welcome, Rosetorn22!**

**Yami: Hey Ranko, are you going to make that announcement?**

**Ranko: Oh yeah, do you guys think that I should commission an artist to do a cover page for this story. When I reach the 100 mark in any story I do, I usually look for an artist to draw a cover page for the story. So if there is anyone interested, PM me and we can talk!**

**Yuugi: Review!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Ranko: OMR, I am so sorry for updating late, guys. But I am back and I hope that my schedule will become less crazy and less stressful soon before I explode. **

**Yami: Now that might be interesting to see…**

**Yuugi: Shut up, Yami!**

**GirlsRule2013:**** First, let me say that you have one of the cutest usernames I have ever seen! Yay! Anyway, I'm glad that you like the chapter so much, I was worried that I was moving too fast and I am happy that you and so many other people have put up with this story for so long. Please continue to review!**

**lilpopsplash:**** Yeah, I wouldn't want Yuugi to be my enemy :) Thanks for the review!**

**Daemon Luciel:**** LMFAO (great band)! Anyway, I love Atemu, he is so devious and I still have plans for this character, he's one of my favorites so I won't kill him off if that's what you are wondering. I hope I will not disappoint when it comes to the moment you have been waiting for (Yuugi returns Yami's feelings). Please continue to review!**

**Unattainable Dreams:**** Ever since I started the Shadow Game series, I have heard so much of "I like Yami, but then again, I kind of don't" and I think it is the funniest thing in the world. Thank you for making my day and I totally agree with you! Thanks for pointing out that mistake by the way, please continue to review!**

**p. ageha:**** Its okay, I love Atemu too, Heba can just get over it because it is his fault he had to choose a lovable boyfriend ;) Thank you and please continue to review!**

**Rosetorn22:**** Sorry, I am a strange one :) Anyway, I'm glad that the flow of the story is good in your eyes because what I have been the most worried about in this whole story is how it reads. Thank you and please continue to review!**

**SincerelyChristina:**** When I got all of those reviews from you for previous chapters, it made my day. I got a big smile on my face and everything and my friends were looking at my really strangely. I am a strange child =/ Anyway, thank you and please continue to review!**

**Yuugi: Ranko twin appreciates all of the reviews (favorite and followers) she has and she apologizes if she did not answer your review, it is just that she cannot answer all of them but she has read them all and appreciates them all as well. **

**Yami: Ranko twin owns nothing. **

**Ranko: Enjoy!**

-/-

_Yuugi sat curled up in a ball next to his door, his hands covering his ears and rocking himself back and forth. He hummed under his breath but no matter what he could still hear his parents screaming at each other and it hurt his chest, it made tears spring to his eyes and roll down his cheeks. _

"_Please…stop," Yuugi cried softly, even though he knew his parents wouldn't hear him. He heard his grandfather's voice cut through the argument and he was interrupted by a short, "Shut up!" from both of his parents. _

"_You will not take my son away from me. I will fight for him and Yuugi will come with me to Hokkaido," his mother said before he heard the sharp clicking of high heels and the slam of the door. Yuugi's father immediately turned on Yuugi's grandpa and started to shout at him; blaming him and ranting about his soon to be ex-wife._

_Yuugi didn't think he was going to get any sleep that night. _

"…uugi? Yuugi? Yuugi, wake up," a soft voice called him out of his dreams.

Yuugi groaned as someone nudged his shoulder, trying to wake him up. He buried his face deeper in his arms and tried to remain asleep as long as he could, but then the voice spoke to him again.

"Yuugi, so help me, if you do not wake up _this_ moment, you will regret ever falling asleep in my class."

The demonic voice made Yuugi sit up immediately and looked around frantically. His vision was still a little blurry from his nap. He blinked away all the spots in his vision and saw that he was sitting at his desk in the classroom with a very angry Kujaku-sensei looming over him.

"Oh!" Yuugi squeaked out; he blushed. He looked around and thankfully, there was no one else in the class to witness this…this…embarrassment. "I am so sorry, Kujaku-sensei! I didn't mean to fall asleep! It's just I didn't get much sleep last night!"

Kujaku-sensei did not look amused. She sighed and ran a hand through her long blonde hair, now just looking tired. "You know, when you have been showing up late to my class, I let it slide. I figured that you were still exhausted from the bone marrow transplant. When you have been turning in blank assignments, I let it go because you have been gone for a few days and you don't know the material. But falling asleep in the middle of my lecture is unacceptable."

Yuugi bowed his head in shame. "I'm sorry."

"Do you realize that I could have woken you up any time in the middle of class and embarrassed you in front of everyone?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"But I didn't, I let you sleep." Yuugi shot his head up in surprise and looked into Kujaku-sensei's deep violet eyes that were full of sadness and understanding. "You were crying in your sleep, Yuugi."

Yuugi finally realized that his face was still wet from his tears; he touched in cheek in surprise, almost shock.

Kujaku-sensei crouched down so she was at Yuugi's eye level. "Yuugi, has something been bothering you lately?"

'Bothering me?' Yuugi thought sarcastically. 'Yeah, my whole life is fucked up. My parents are getting a divorce and fighting for custody, I was mistaken for Heba, I had to rebuild a relationship, I just gave bone marrow to someone I barely know, and I have no idea how I am supposed to feel about Yami.'

But instead, Yuugi answered, "No, nothing is wrong, I'm just really tired is all."

Kujaku-sensei did not look convinced, in fact, it looked like she wanted to say more. Finally, she sighed and stood up. "Alright Yuugi, but just remember, if there is anything that is troubling you or anything you want to talk about…" Mai pulled out a torn piece of notebook paper and handed it to Yuugi; it had her address and phone number on it. "Talk to me."

She turned around to walk back to her desk and Yuugi gathered his things for lunch. "And if you ever need to sleep in my class again, just ask me and I'll send you to the nurse." Yuugi looked up in surprise but saw that Kujaku-sensei had her head down, shuffling through paper work but he could swear that he saw the smallest smile on her lips.

As Yuugi was about to walk out the door, Kujaku-sensei said, "Oh, and by the way, your little friends were looking for you earlier. They're up on the roof now, I think they're worried about you."

Yuugi smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Kujaku-sensei."

_Later ~_

"Yuugi!" Ryou cried, clinging onto his best friend. "Where have you been, I've been really worried about you!" The boy looked at his best friend with watery, doe eyes that made Yuugi feel like he kicked a lost puppy.

"Sorry about that," Yuugi said. "I had to stay after class…I had to talk with Kujaku-sensei about something."

Jounouchi, who was leaning against the railing while Seto kept a protective eye on him, suddenly burst out laughing. "Damn, I feel sorry for you. Kujaku-sensei used to be my teacher in elementary school before she moved on to teaching high school but she was tough. Everyone hated her and she made all the little kids cry. I can't imagine what she must be like now!"

Seto grumbled. "That bitch failed me last year."

Jounouchi tried to look sorry for the man but a smirk still spread across his lips. "Aw! Poor Seto, that was the first time you ever flunked a class, huh?"

"Shut it, Katsuya, remember, I still pay your rent."

"You don't pay for shit, because I don't have rent!" Jounouchi cried, getting red from anger. "Why do you always deny that I live with you when you asked me to move in with you?"

"Can you two shut your mouths and stop fighting like an old married couple. Dear God, I don't know what has caused this new feud between you two but can you just have make up sex already and act like a couple?"

Everyone blinked in surprise and turned towards the source: Malik.

He was leaning against the side of the building, away from the group. He had bags under his eyes and his hair was a mess. He looked stressed out and everyone knew why; he was anxious about Marik coming home.

"Why are you two always fighting anyway, be thankful that your boyfriend is beside you and safe, and not halfway across the world, possibly dying," Malik said solemnly.

Bakura sighed and went over to his friend. "But he's coming home, he is safe and you will see him again. Remember, we're all going to go greet him at the airport tonight and then you two can spend as much time together as you want."

Malik looked up at Bakura and tried to look like he was happy or exciting, but there were still frown lines between his eyebrows. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Yuugi had never seen Malik like this before and honestly, it was disturbing to see. The blond was always so friendly and lively, one would think that he would be unmanageable with Marik coming home, but it was quite the opposite, everyone soon discovered. He was even more on edge now.

Yuugi stole a glance at Yami and by the way the man was staring at Malik, Yuugi could only imagine that he was thinking the same thing. Yuugi was pretty sure everyone was thinking the same thing and tonight seemed to be so far away for everyone.

_Later that night ~_

When Yuugi left the house later that day, the sky had been overcast with dark clouds and it looked like it was about to rain any minute. But Yuugi, being Yuugi, had been running late to meet everyone at the airport and ran out of the house with just a small jacket, without a hood, not even bothering to look outside.

Now he was waiting in the terminal for Marik's plane to land, watching the rain fall lightly; there was likely to be a downpour soon.

Marik's plane was a few minutes off schedule and Malik was currently having a panic attack. He had been pacing for at least ten minutes and Yuugi was pretty sure the boy had created a rut in the floor. Bakura and Ryou were trying to calm him down as Anzu had left to get water a short while ago.

Seto and Jounouchi were currently playing a card game on the floor; Jounouchi was fuming and was accusing Seto of cheating. Yami and Yuugi were the two who were staying as far away from their group of friends as possible; they were starting to get strange looks from other people.

Yami was staring off into space; his chin was resting on his hand. He and Yuugi had not spoken in days. After a while, Yuugi had gotten tired of torturing Yami but he still used Yami and often pulled the puppy-dog eyes on the man, which was his one weakness. But lately, Yami has been more closed off to everyone in the group.

Yuugi talked to Atemu and he said that Yami was acting perfectly normal at home; he still waited on Atemu hand and foot, even though the twin often argued that he could take care of himself, and Yami still bickered with Heba relentlessly.

It disturbed Yuugi to think that Yami was only acting strange around him. Hell, he was even hanging out with Anzu more, which he was still trying to figure out their relationship. Anzu and Yami had dated for a short while the year before but Yami broke it off because there was too much stress with Atemu being in the hospital, and apparently Yuugi was the reason of their break up too.

Anzu was bitter, and a little jealous for a while, but those two had been close friends for a long time, about as long as Atemu had been in the hospital since Anzu's mom had been one of Atemu's doctors.

Yami and Anzu were close, and even though Yuugi knew they could be nothing more than friends, he was still jealous that Anzu got to spend so much time with Yami. And he always felt angry when Anzu would overact their friendship that it was almost like they still were together.

But that was impossible. Yami and Anzu could never be together, right? Because Yami loved Yuugi…right?

"What if his plane crashed?" Malik asked frantically. Bakura had finally stopped the boy from pacing but now he was fidgeting. He kept looking towards the gate and it looked like Malik was about to cry.

"Listen to me, Malik," Bakura said in a commanding but soft tone. "They did not crash. His plane is fine. Pilots fly in this kind of weather all the time, there would just be a little terminal and I am sure that the plane will land at any moment."

Anzu returned with a cup of water a moment later. "Has the plane landed yet?"

Bakura looked as if he were about to snap at the girl but then a very feminine voice came on over the speak and said,

"_Flight number 245 arriving from America at Gate number 5 has just landed. Please line up at the Gate and prepare for boarding_."

Malik sucked in a breath and clutched his hand to his chest where his heart was about to beat out of his chest. "Bakura," he whispered, clutching his friends hand tightly. He couldn't breath and his friend could do nothing but squeeze his hand.

The door opened and a flood of people started to come out as the others waited to board. The group of friends had to back up so they were in no ones way. Some went to claim baggage and others were happily greeted by family members, friends, or lovers.

There were calls of excited greetings and people crying as they met up with an old, familiar face, yet no one had seen Marik yet. Malik stood on the tips of his toes, trying to look over other people's heads, but he was so small that there was no way to see who was coming and who was going. One would think that it would be easy to spot someone like Marik.

"Where is he, Bakura?" Malik asked his friend anxiously. He felt a sinking dread settle in the pit of his stomach.

"He'll show up soon," Bakura said in an encouraging way.

Yuugi felt bad for Malik; the boy looked like he was about to have a panic attack and break down crying at the same time. While everyone else was distracted, Yuugi looked back over at the gate and saw of head of spiky bleach blond hair stick out over the crowd.

"Hey," Yuugi said, getting everyone's attention. "Is that him?" he asked, pointing at the person he just saw.

Malik turned to look and gasped. There, standing in the middle of the crowd of people, was Marik. He was wearing his military uniform and people who were passing by him either shook his head and smiled and nodded. Marik greeted them back but his mind looked to be elsewhere; he was looking around, lost and confused; he obviously hadn't noticed Malik yet.

Yuugi turned to look at Malik and saw that his jaw was quivering and he was sniffling, a few tears rolling down his cheek. "Marik," he whispered to himself, choking on his own words as more tears fell from his eyes, faster now. "Marik!" he cried.

The man didn't have time to even turn and acknowledge Malik before the boy was running towards him. He leaped at Marik and threw his arms around his neck and his legs locked around his waist. He was sobbing into Marik's shoulder as he clung to him like a monkey. Marik laughed whole-heartedly and rubbed Malik's back.

"You're here, you're really here," Malik sobbed.

"Yeah, and I'm not going anywhere."

Malik cried harder and grasped the sides Marik's face, kissing him all over his face. Marik laughed again.

People who were passing by either stared at the homosexual couple in disturbance or admired them and wiped tears from their eyes.

After a minute or two, the group of friends walked over to the couple; Malik was still clinging to Marik. Marik noticed the group approaching them and rubbed Malik's back. "Hey, you're going to have to let go now."

Malik shook his head into Marik's shoulder and held on tighter. Marik shrugged and put a hand under one of the boy's legs to support him. "Hey guys," he said cheerfully; Yuugi said fangs peak out from his upper lip when he smiled. "I would hug you guys too but my arms are kind of full."

"Don't pretend you don't like it," Bakura said.

"Come on, Bakura, I know you want some of this action too," Marik said, lifting a suggestive eyebrow.

"What?" Bakura asked, completely oblivious; Ryou giggled.

"I can't help it if everyone loves me; sorry, Ryou, I might have to steal him from you," Marik said as Malik slapped his shoulder lightly.

"You can have him," Ryou said as Bakura pulled him in closer.

"I have never met you before but I have heard a lot about you from Malik and Bakura," Marik said, holding out the hand that wasn't supporting Malik. "Hey, my name's Marik, I hope to get to know you better."

Ryou smiled and shook his hand. "Same here."

"Now where is this Yuugi I have heard so much about, I heard he is like a mini-Yami," Marik said, eyes scanning everyone until they landed on Yuugi. "But I didn't know that you were that mini; damn, why are you so short?"

Yuugi shrugged. "I have been asking myself that question for years."

"Hey, I heard about what you did for Atemu and I just want to say thanks for that. I was really happy when I got the letter saying I would be able to see Atemu when I got home," Marik said.

"I just did it to help him," Yuugi said with a shrug.

"You are really cute, you know that?" Malik punched Marik in the shoulder. "Ow, you little demon. You're cuter, don't worry. Anyway, Yami if you don't want this little guy, I'll have him."

Everyone thought they heard Malik say softly, "No, you're mine and mine alone."

"So we better get going guys," Marik said. "I got to get Malik home and I have a few other people I want to see tonight. Hey Malik, I have to get my luggage, you want to let go now?" Again, Malik shook his head "Alright then," Marik said before walking off to baggage claim, Malik still attached to his chest.

"Hey, don't forget, we're all going to meet at the park tomorrow for lunch, so make sure to be there," Marik called.

Soon after that, everyone else started to wander off, starting to head home. Yuugi looked outside and saw that it was now down-pouring. The flight that Marik just got off of was post-poned.

Yuugi sighed and prepared to walk all the way home in the rain when someone put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. He turned and saw Yami holding an umbrella. "You want me to walk you home?"

Yuugi was half-tempted to say "no" but then he looked back outside. "Yes, thank you."

The two walked to Yuugi's house, shoulder to shoulder as the rain beat against the umbrella. There was an awkward silence most of the time and Yuugi tried to keep his mind preoccupied by breathing on his hands to keep them warm.

"So, Marik seemed nice," Yuugi said, trying to make conversation.

"Yuugi," Yami said, as if he had never heard Yuugi. "You know my feelings for you, don't you?"

Yuugi started; he calmed down his frantically beating heart and stuttered out, "Wh-what feelings?"

"Don't play dumb," Yami suddenly snapped, making Yuugi jump.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Why do you always lose your temper so quickly?" Yuugi asked in frustration.

Yami ignored him; he threw his umbrella to the side and the two were drenched in seconds. "I have a feeling that you know how I feel, that is why you have been screwing with me for the last few days. You have been torturing me while you know that I love you and I will not stand it any longer."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Yuugi asked, hoping the rain was masking his blush. Yami suddenly grabbed Yuugi around the waist and pulled him close.

"You're mine, Yuugi, accept that," Yami whispered before closing his lips around Yuugi.

Yuugi just stood there in shock; he was too furious to respond to the kiss, even as Yami tilted his head to deepen the kiss. When he regained his senses he pushed Yami away and ran away without even bothering to look back and see the hurt expression on Yami's face.

"Why do you always push me away? Why are you always running away from me, Yuugi?"

_Elsewhere ~_

Mai hurriedly unlocked her apartment door and entered into the warmth. Her cat was curled up on the couch right next to the portable heater and Mai couldn't help the bubble of jealousy form in her chest.

She sighed, kicking off her shoes and peeling off her wet jacket. She still had to take a bath, and eat dinner, and feed the cat, and grade papers, when all she wanted to do was fall on her bed and go to sleep.

She was on her way to the bathroom when someone buzzed her apartment number. She groaned, rather dramatically, making her cat look up at her curiously. She went over to the intercom and asked, "Who is it?" She hoped she didn't sound too pissed and scare whoever was there away…wait, that is exactly what she wanted to do.

A hesitant voice answered, back dropped by the sound of rain. _"Kujaku-sensei?"_

Mai gasped. "Yuugi, what are you doing here?"

"_Can you please allow me inside, Kujaku-sensei? Its cold out here and I need to talk to someone."_

"Of course, Yuugi." She buzzed him in. "Come on up."

-/-

**Ranko: One of my longest chapters for this series. **

**Yami: We hope we didn't disappoint. **

**Yuugi: Please review and tell us what you think. **


	14. Chapter 14

**Ranko: Oh! Hey guys, yeah, I'm updating on this story again…please don't kill me!**

**Yami: I can tell you guys her address so you can attack her. **

**Ranko: No! Yami, you're so mean!**

**Yuugi: Ranko twin wanted to give this story her full attention so that is why she waited until she ended Checkmate and Not All Princes are Frogs. **

**Ranko: Yeah, I wanted to complete those stories first… (sobs) I'm still sad that Checkmate is over!**

**Yami: (sighs)**

**Yuugi: Let's just answer reviews…**

**GirlsRule2013:**** Your username is cute :) Anyway, thank you, I loved writing Malik's reaction; he just made me so happy. Your right, Yuugi should stop running but at the same time, I understand why he is doing that. **

**SincerelyChristina:**** I understand you, the bronzeshipping moment last chapter made my heart happy too. Anyway, I hope that I got Malik's reaction to seeing Marik accurate enough, I have never really experienced anything like that so I hope that I didn't offend you with my inaccurate and cheesy interpretation. **

**shire:**** I completely understand; Yami is not completely innocent. I realize how delusional both of them are and really, they are both idiots in my mind (kind of Sukisho). I definitely have a plan for this couple and how they are going to work things out ;) I got your back. **

**Daemon Luciel:**** Yay! I love Marik in general; he is kind of like the Magnus Bane in the Yu-Gi-Oh fandom (I don't know if you understand that reference, sorry). I have been seeing people pick sides between Yami and Yuugi lately, in this story and Checkmate, and Yami is winning :) I don't think there is a real reason Yuugi is pushing Yami away, I think he is just afraid…okay, maybe there is a reason ;) **

**lady Alexas:**** Well, since you said please… :)**

**freeasabird13:**** Thank you! I will try to add more Tendershipping to this story for you. I am so sorry that I haven't updated in forever but I'm back now! I would love to read and review your story! Sorry that I haven't done that yet. **

**Ranko: I'll try and make this chapter longer to make up for putting this story off for so long!**

**Yami: Yeah, right…**

**Ranko: What's that supposed to mean?**

**Yuugi: Ranko twin owns nothing. **

**Ranko: Enjoy. **

-/-

Mai sat across from Yuugi on her couch; her eyes were wide and the cup of coffee she poured herself was completely forgotten on the coffee table. Yuugi was sitting on the other end of the couch, his back straight and his eyes cast downward, as if he were ashamed.

Yuugi had just told Mai everything that has happened in his life ever since the beginning of school. Ryou dating Bakura, Yami making advances on Yuugi, Yuugi meeting Atemu and Heba, Yuugi's parents getting a divorce, and what happened earlier that night with Yami. Everything was out in the open and Yuugi was beginning to regret telling his teacher all of this while the silence stretched on.

"Well…" Mai finally spoke. "Um, well, I'm not a professional counselor or anything like that but it sounds like your life is kind of screwed up."

This startled a laugh out of Yuugi. "You think?"

Mai sighed. "Yuugi, I realized how hard life can be sometimes, we all face our own challenges, but it is how you deal with them that really counts."

"That's great but I don't know how that is supposed to help me."

Mai ran her fingers through her hair tiredly. "Yuugi, I'm not sure how you want me to help you. What do you want me to do?"

"I don't know!" Yuugi suddenly burst out. Mai raised her eyebrows at the boy and Yuugi realized what he had just done and ducked his head again. "I don't know, it's just…" He sighed. "I don't know," he said, sounding defeated.

Mai gave the boy a sympathetic look. She bit her lower lip and looked around her apartment. She finally looked heavenward and sighed. "Alright, you can stay here with me for a while."

Yuugi looked up. "What?"

Mai pushed herself off the couch. "Listen Yuugi, my parents got divorced while I was in high school too. It's tough; during that time, I ran away from home and stayed at a friend's house until the divorce was final. You may not know what you need right now, but I do. You need someplace away from home so you can think and clear your head. I'm offering that you stay here with me."

Yuugi blinked up at his teacher and then smiled brightly. He jumped up and hugged Mai. "Thank you, thank you so much!"

Mai patted Yuugi's back and then peeled the boy off of her. "Yeah, yeah, you still have to call your grandfather and tell him where you are."

Yuugi nodded his head, still smiling. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He began to dial the number but before he could complete the call, someone else called him. The phone vibrated in his hand; he jumped in surprise. He looked down at his phone in confusion and then hesitantly answered it.

"H-hello?"

"_Yuugi? Oh, thank God!"_

Yuugi's eyes widened. "Mom?"

"_Yuugi, something terrible happened! You need to get down to the hospital right now!"_

Yuugi clutched the phone closer to his ear. "Mom, what happened?"

"_It's your grandfather, Yuugi…he—he had a heart attack!"_

Yuugi dropped the phone.

* * *

Yami walked home in the rain; he kicked at a puddle of water. Why was he so stupid? He wanted Yuugi to like him so why did he keep doing these things that pushed Yuugi away from him?

He grabbed his keys from his pocket as he saw his house coming into view. He unlocked the door and was greeted with the wonderful warmth coming from the heater. He shed his drenched jacket and tossed it on the floor; he kicked off his shoes and walked into the living room.

"Hello? Anyone home?"

"Yuugi, calm down!" Heba said from the kitchen.

Yami's eyes widened. He dashed to the kitchen, hoping to see Yuugi there so he could apologize. Only Heba and Atemu were there. Atemu was sitting at the table with his head in his hands and Heba was talking on the phone.

Atemu looked up and saw his brother there; he shook his head.

Yami raised a questioning eyebrow at Atemu and looked over at Heba, mouthing, "Who?"

Heba rolled his eyes and turned around. "Yuugi, calm down, everything is going to be fine." A pause; Yami could hear Yuugi's voice slightly through the phone and he sounded frantic. "I know the doctors will do everything they can…Yuugi, well, I don't know if I can…Okay! Okay, I'm sorry, we'll be over there soon." Another pause. "Yes! Yuugi, we'll be there soon, calm down. Remember, everything is going to be okay." Heba hung up quickly before Yuugi could say anymore.

"What the hell was that?" Yami asked immediately.

Heba sighed and grabbed his coat from the back of a kitchen chair. "Yuugi's grandfather had a heart attack. He's freaking out. He's at the hospital now but they won't let him into his grandfather's room. He wants us to go to the hospital."

Atemu nodded and got up to go to the foyer to grab his jacket. "Yami! What have I told you about hanging up your jacket?" was heard from the next room over.

Yami rolled his eyes. "I'm going with you," he said, standing in the doorway to keep Heba from leaving.

Heba punched Yami's shoulder. "He doesn't want to see you. My guess is that you probably did something stupid again and hurt him, like always."

Yami opened his mouth to protest but Heba stopped him.

"Listen Yami, this is a really emotional time for Yuugi right now, I don't think you being there will make things any better for him."

"How dare you say that?" he said in a dark tone.

Heba sighed. "Yami, I'm telling the truth. I know that you want to set things right with Yuugi, but if you really love him, just give him space."

Yami bit his bottom lip to keep from shouting. He knew that Heba was right but he didn't want to admit it. He turned on his heel and stormed down the hall, muttering something like, "Alright," over his shoulder as he left. Heba flinched when he heard the sound of a door slamming shut.

He sighed and shook his head before dashing out the door with Atemu into the rain.

They ran through the rain—that was falling harder than before—to the hospital. They were greeted at the front desk by Mana who wore a familiar and friendly smile.

"Well, Atemu, long time, no see, huh?" she said, giggling.

Atemu shrugged and Heba went up to her little window and said, "Mana, we're here to see Yuugi, can you tell us where he is?"

Mana's expression changed to one that was more solemn. She pursed her lips and said, "Yuugi is upstairs; he's waiting outside of his grandpa's room. You can find him on the fourth floor by room 415." She pushed a button behind her desk and the mechanical double doors swung open.

"Thank you, Mana," Heba said; he and Atemu took off in a brisk walk. They rode the elevator and as they waited, Heba was bouncing on the balls of his feet anxiously. Atemu noticed that and put a hand on his lover's shoulder to calm him down.

"Hey, everything is going to be fine," Atemu said, smiling softly.

That didn't calm Heba's nerves. "For Yuugi's sake, I hope you're right. He helped us during that rough time in our lives and I hope that we can do the same for him." The elevator dinged and the shiny metal doors slid open. Heba was out the door quickly, leaving Atemu practically jogging to catch up.

He found Yuugi pacing outside his grandfather's room, biting his nails anxiously. Heba ran up to him and attacked him with a hug. "Yuugi!"

Yuugi was surprised by the sudden onslaught but then quickly realized who it was and hugged the boy back. "Thank you so much for coming."

"Yuugi," Atemu said, appearing behind Heba.

Yuugi sighed in relief and went to hug the taller man. "Atemu," he said.

"So, what do you know?" Heba asked.

Yuugi shook his head. "Not much, they say that his state is critical right now and that I can't see him because they have to run a few tests…" Yuugi sniffed and rubbed his eyes violently to keep back the tears. When he looked back up, his eyes were red and puffy and tears were sliding down his cheeks. "Heba, I'm so scared."

"I know, Yuugi," Heba said, embracing the boy in a hug again.

"Yuugi," Mai said, appearing around the corner. "I got you some water." She noticed Heba and Atemu and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, hello."

"Kujaku-sensei," Yuugi said, "these are my…friends; Atemu is Yami's twin brother and Heba is Atemu's boyfriend."

Mai switched the cup of water to her left hand and offered her right hand for them to shake. "Hello, my name is Mai Kujaku, I'm Yuugi's teacher."

"Guys," Yuugi said anxiously, beginning to pace again. "What is taking so long? Why can't I see him? What if something terrible has happened and he dies from this? Oh God, I don't know what I would…!"

"Yuugi," Heba said, grasping Yuugi's shoulders and shaking the boy. "You're panicking again. You just have to calm down; freaking out isn't going to help your grandfather right now. We just have to trust that the doctors know what they are doing."

Yuugi sighed. "But, what if…"

"Yuugi Motou," a deep voice said from behind the group. Every head turned and they saw the doctor standing behind them with Yuugi's mother by his side.

"Yes, that's me," Yuugi said, stepping forward.

"Well, I just got done informing your mother about your grandfather's condition…"

Yuugi's eyes widened. He rushed forward and grabbed the collar of his white lab coat. "Please tell me that he is alright! Is there anything wrong with him? Is he still alive?"

The doctor peeled Yuugi's fingers off of his coat. "Your grandfather is fine, Yuugi; it was a minor heart attack, he should be just fine. But we will have to put him on some medication to make sure that this doesn't happen again."

Yuugi stared at the doctor for a moment, as if he didn't believe him. He then let out a breathy sigh and fell to his knees on the floor. Everyone rushed around him quickly, fretting over him. Tears were streaming down his face but he was smiling brightly. His grandfather was alright! He was still alive!

"Yuugi, Yuugi, are you alright?" his mother asked, kneeling beside her son.

He looked up at his mother and she saw the bright look in his eyes. He nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, yes, I am just fine!" He got up to his feet so quickly that he knocked his mother back on the haunches of her legs. "Can I see him?" he asked the doctor.

The man smiled and nodded. "Yes, you can. Not for long though, he is still recovering and he needs his rest."

"Thank you so much," Yuugi said; he rushed into his grandfather's room before anyone could stop him. "Grandpa?" he said softly, walking towards the resting figure on the bed. He felt his heart skip a beat when he saw how still his grandfather was but the reassuring beeping sound of the heart monitor reminded Yuugi that his heart was still beating and he was still alive.

"Grandpa," Yuugi said, walking towards the chair that was by his grandfather's bed. He sat down and grabbed his grandfather's old, withered hand as if it were glass, making sure to mind the IV cord that was stuck into the back of his hand.

"Yuugi…?" Suguroku said, turning his head slightly so he could see his grandson.

Yuugi smiled; he reached forward and stroked his grandfather's hair. "Yes, grandpa, it's me; I'm right here."

Suguroku smiled softly and rested his head on his pillow. "I am so glad that you are here, Yuugi. How are you?" His voice was raspy and weak.

"I'm fine, grandpa; everything is just fine now that I know that you are okay."

"Yuugi…"

"Yes?"

"I won't let your parents take you away from me; you are my beloved grandson," the old man said softly and in a very tired voice.

Yuugi furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Grandpa, I don't think now is the time to…" He stopped talking whenever he realized that his grandfather drifted off to sleep. He jumped in surprise whenever he felt a hand rest itself on his shoulder. He whipped his hand around and saw his mother standing behind him.

"Yuugi, do you want to know why your grandfather had that heart attack?" his mother asked solemnly.

Yuugi raised his eyebrows. "Huh?"

His mother sighed and sat down beside Yuugi on another chair. "Well, your father and I were arguing again at the game shop and Suguroku tried to split us up. I was told that the stress and the anxiety of the constant fighting just caused him to have the heart attack."

Yuugi scowled at his mother. "How dare you? I can't believe that you two will never stop arguing. Why don't you just act like grown ups for once? If you hadn't been fighting than this would never had happened to grandpa."

His mother sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "Yuugi, I understand that your father and I have not been acting like mature adults but after what happened to Suguroku we are going to change our attitudes towards each other and make this divorce work. But Yuugi, you have to understand that with your grandfather's poor health this was bound to happen eventually."

Yuugi shook his head furiously. "No, grandpa has always been strong. He has only been stressed out lately because of you two."

"And I told you that is going to change!" she suddenly shouted. She covered her mouth quickly and looked towards her father-in-law who was resting on the hospital bed. She sighed and put a hand on her son's shoulder; he shrugged it off. "Yuugi, the point is…"

Yuugi shook his head. "No, I don't want to hear it. You have no idea what I have been through lately. But I guess you wouldn't know since you don't care about me anymore."

"Yuugi!" she suddenly burst out. "I still love you! I'm…!" She looked towards Suguroku on the bed and then grabbed Yuugi by the arm. She pulled him up and dragged him out into the hall. "I'm divorcing your father, not you. I still love you! I'm sorry that I haven't shown it lately but you know that this divorce hasn't been easy on any of us."

She sighed and grasped her son's shoulders, making him look at her. "Yuugi, you're my son and I love you; why do you think I am working so hard to win custody over you? You're father only cares about his girlfriend and her family, your grandfather is in such poor health that I don't feel safe leaving you with him…"

"Wait," Yuugi interrupted. He held his head in his hand, suddenly feeling dizzy. "What did you just say?"

She looked at her son confusedly and said again, "I said that I don't feel right leaving you to live with your grandfather since he is in such poor health. This heart attack has proved that."

Yuugi furrowed his eyebrows together. "What are you saying, mom?"

Yuugi's mother smiled. "Yuugi, if I win custody, you are going to come to live with me in Hokkaido."

-/-

**Ranko: Okay, so it is not as long of a chapter as I thought it would be. Well then...Please don't kill me! I'll give you anything you want! Spare me!**

**Yami: I can still give you guys her address...  
**

**Yuugi: Yami!  
**

**Ranko: Okay, well it was nice knowing you all.**

**Yuugi: Ranko...(sighs)**

**Ranko: Okay, I want to update on this story soon, all depends on how lazy I am. And let's face it, I'm always lazy. But I really am sorry that this chapter was probably not as long as you all expected it to be. However, I couldn't see it ending anywhere else and the next chapter will pick up right where this one left off. Thought I would add a bit more suspense in there for you guys ;) Cause I love you.  
**

**Yuugi: Review please!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Ranko: Whoa, a lot of people are mad at me for what I did last chapter. **

**Yami: And you aren't offended by that?**

**Ranko: Nope, I got used to the death threats after what I did to Ryou in The Shadow Game. Ever since that moment, people have been threatening me or saying "I hate you! Why did you do that?" So yeah, no biggie anymore. **

**Yuugi: You are a strange one…**

**Ranko: He-he! Love you guys!**

**Mana's Madness:**** I feel your pain . **

**snow-kim:**** I will pass the message onto Yami for you ;) I know, what Yuugi's mother is doing is completely unfair! But that is what happens in a divorce. What can you do?**

**GirlsRuler2013:**** I'm sure that I did say something like that in Not All Princes Are Frogs. But I forget things easily…what am I doing again? See what I mean? Yeah! You tell Yami who is boss! Thanks for the wonderful compliment, lovely!**

**Goshikku Hime wa Yami-san:**** Meep…I still love you though ;)**

**Rosetorn22:**** Yes, that is what I've been told :) Aw! You so nice to me!**

**Black Rose of Fire:**** Aw! Thank you! I always feel like hugging Yami and Yuugi though, usually Yuugi more because, hello? Who doesn't love a baby panda? **

**freeasabird13:**** Aw! You flatter me so! You are just the sweetest thing, aren't you? Thank you so much for that awesome review!**

**Daemon Luciel:**** I know how you feel TT_TT I just want them to get together already. Unfortunately it's not that easy. Friendship!**

**SincerelyChristina:**** I know, I had to do the same thing before I wrote last chapter. That is sad. Yes, I am the Queen! I can do whatever I want! (insert evil laugh here) But I still don't want Yuugi's mom to take Yuugi away TT_TT All the feels!**

**YugiFanP3:**** Oh, I'm sorry for making you worry! I wouldn't discontinue this story! I will see it through to the end! Thank you so much for being just a big supporter!**

**Guest:**** I feel your pain! Let's hope that Yuugi gets to stay with his friends in Domino, shall we? **

**Breana:**** Alright, asking me the same question three times for the same chapter is unacceptable and I'm not going to lie, it's starting to get on my nerves. I would appreciate it if you would stop asking that question every chapter after I've already explained myself. **

**reyn:**** No, I'd cut you down in a week or two (lame joke is lame). I stole that from The Nanny, by the way :P Anyway, thanks so much!**

**lilpopsplash:**** Well, I hope that you're not dead…Hello?**

**SincereJoyy:**** Uh-oh…Yami, you better watch yourself. This chica isn't messing around. I'll make sure that he doesn't get into too much trouble ;) Thanks for the kind words! You are awesome!**

**Yuugi: Ranko, did you seriously answer all of those reviews?**

**Ranko: I didn't mean to! It just happened. **

**Yami: Ranko twin owns nothing. **

**Ranko: Enjoy!**

-/-

"What?" Yuugi cried, jumping out of his seat and beginning to pace. "No! There is no way that I am leaving all—all of my friends! Grandpa! Someone has to take care of him! I mean, right when I was starting to get along with so many people! I was starting to make some friends! I—I just…!"

Kyoko stood up and grabbed Yuugi's shoulders. "I know, I know. And I'm sorry, I wish that there is another way…"

"There is!" Yuugi cried. "Let me stay here! Me and grandpa have been just fine while I've been living with him."

Kyoko nodded. "I know that, Yuugi, but what if something like this happens again?"

"If something like this happens again and I'm with you than there would be no where there to help him!" Yuugi said in a broken tone.

Yuugi's mother sighed. "Please listen to me; I'm just trying to do what is best for you."

Yuugi shook his head and stepped away from his mother. "No, you don't care what is best for me, you only care about yourself! If you did want the best for me than you would leave me with grandpa or move in with us." Yuugi rubbed his eyes when he felt the sting of tears. "But…not this," he said, before he turned on his heel and ran away.

* * *

To say Yami was surprised whenever Yuugi knocked on his door, completely drenched from the rain and shivering, would be an understatement.

"Hey," Yuugi said awkwardly, standing on his front porch.

"H-hey," Yami said just as awkwardly.

Yuugi shrugged. "Can I come in?"

Yami snapped out whatever daze he was in and stepped out of Yuugi's way to let him through the door. "Yeah, come on in." He had to refrain from asking how Yuugi even knew _where _he lived; the boy was clearly upset about something. "Um," Yami said, rubbing the back of his neck. "You can sit down," he said, gesturing to the old couch. "Um, you want something to drink?"

Yuugi took a seat on the lumpy couch and shook his head. "No, thank you."

Yami pursed his lips and stood a little awkwardly next to the couch; silence filled the room and it was beginning to make Yami uncomfortable that the only noise he heard was the sound of rain beating down on the roof.

Yami took a deep breath and sighed. "So…"

"I'm leaving."

Yami's eyebrows practically went to his hairline. He turned and saw Yuugi was looking down at his hands in his lap. "Wh-what?" he stuttered out.

Yuugi sighed, his little shoulders sagging. "It's the custody thing going on with my parents' divorce."

Yami stared in shock. "I didn't even know that you're parents…"

"I know," Yuugi said, nodding. "But that doesn't matter. My grandpa…he had a heart attack," he said quietly.

Yami didn't know if he was supposed to comfort Yuugi or let him have his space; he just sat next to the boy on the couch. "Yeah, I heard. Is he okay?"

Yuugi nodded. "Yeah, they said it was only a minor heart attack and he would need to take medication, but…" Yuugi pursed his lips. "My mom doesn't see it that way."

Yami knitted his eyebrows together. "What do you mean?"

Yuugi sighed. "My mom says that she doesn't feel comfortable leaving me with someone who is as unhealthy as grandpa and she told me that if she wins custody over me then she is going to be moving us to Hokkaido."

Yami could have sworn it felt like his heart stopped beating for a moment. "H-Hokkaido? But…that is so far away," he said.

Yuugi nodded, still looking down at his hands. "I told her that I should be here for grandpa just in case something like this happens again and no one is there to help him. But she still wouldn't listen to me."

Yami's hand hovered over Yuugi's shoulder awkwardly for a moment and then he dropped it back down to his side. He didn't even know what to say at that moment.

"I don't want to leave, Yami." Yuugi's voice was so broken and he sounded like he was on the verge of tears; it made Yami snap his head up. Of course, the other boy's head was still down. "I have a family here, I have friends. I can't…just leave. Not after everything I've been through, not after everything that has happened between you and…"

Yami felt his heart break at the sound of Yuugi's voice. Without thinking, he put his arms around Yuugi.

"I don't know what to do anymore, Yami," Yuugi cried, not pushing Yami away; instead, he clung to the man's shirt as the tears spilled over the rim of his eyes and stained Yami's shirt.

Yami made soothing sounds as he rubbed Yuugi's back in a comforting way. He didn't know what to say in this situation. "I'm sorry"? What was there to be sorry for? "It's going to be okay"? It wasn't going to be okay though. "I know"? But Yami didn't know.

So he just held the boy he loved as he cried over everything that was wrong with his life. As he cried over his grandpa. As he cried over his situation. As he cried over the feelings he didn't even understand.

As he cried over Yami—because Yuugi didn't know how it would affect his life if he lost him.

Yuugi soon cried himself to sleep in Yami's arms. Yami felt whenever his shuddering breaths became even and deep. He laid him down on the couch and while he was covering his body with a blanket, Heba and Atemu walked through the front door.

Heba put a hand over his mouth and rushed over to Yuugi's side; he brushed his fingers through Yuugi's bangs and moved them away from his face. "I'm so sorry, Yuugi," he said softly as the boy rested peacefully. "I am so sorry that you have to go through this."

Yuugi leaned into the comforting touch and whined in his sleep.

Yami didn't know why he felt a flare of jealousy at seeing this. It could be because he wished he could be the one touching Yuugi like that; in a way that could comfort him and soothe him.

Or it could be because he still felt so damn helpless while Heba was able to do more than he could do when Yuugi was awake.

* * *

Yuugi awoke to the smell of eggs and bacon. He felt all of his senses slowly come back as he was beginning to wake up. Next he heard the sound of the bacon sizzling in the pan and then the sound of arguing.

At that familiar sound Yuugi sat up quickly; he vaguely noted that he was on an unfamiliar couch. He pushed an old quilt blanket off of him and rushed to the where he assumed the kitchen was, the place where the fighting was coming from. He stood in the doorway, his heart racing at what he expected to find.

What he expected and the actual reality were two completely different things.

Yuugi expected to see his parents arguing and his poor old grandfather standing between them trying to break them up. What he got instead of was Yami and Atemu fighting over a spatula and who would cook breakfast as Heba stood by the stove doing most of the work himself.

Yuugi blinked… 'What?' he thought. Why was he here? In Yami's house of all places! He tried to remember everything that happened last night and he remembered getting called to the hospital because his grandpa had a heart attack. He remembered his talk with his mother and how he just stormed off.

And he remembered how he walked to Yami's house and how the other man comforted him… Yuugi blushed. 'Oh God, all those things I said!' he thought to himself in embarrassment. 'What was I thinking? Obviously nothing at the time!'

Yuugi was half contemplating sneaking out the front door and pretending that last night never happened, but Heba spotted him out of the corner of his eye before the boy could get away.

Heba turned and smiled brightly. "Oh, Yuugi! Good morning," he chirped happily.

The twins who were fighting over the spatula stopped and turned towards Yuugi. Yami immediately let go of the spatula and allowed Atemu the small victory.

"Good morning, Yuugi," Yami said.

Yuugi pursed his lips and put his head down, still terribly embarrassed. "Good morning, everyone," he said quietly.

Heba approached with a plate of scrambled eggs and a couple of pieces of microwavable bacon. "I made breakfast," he said. "Have some." Yuugi looked down at the food as if it were a foreign object. Heba's smile faltered for a moment. "How did you sleep?"

Yuugi didn't respond, he just continued to stare at Heba.

Yami stepped up, giving a little awkward smile. "Hey, Yuugi, all are friends are meeting up this afternoon at the park. We're all going to hang out with Marik and catch up. Are you coming?"

Yuugi put the plate of food on the table and folded his arms in front of his chest self-consciously. "You guys don't need to pretend like everything's happy and okay for my sake. I'm fine and I'm sorry for bothering you guys last night. I'll be leaving soon anyway to go visit my grandpa…"

Atemu shook his head. "Yuugi, _you_ don't have to keep pretending like you're fine, you know. You didn't bother us; we know what happened last night and we're trying to help you, but we can't do that unless you start showing some of your weaknesses. You don't have to be strong all the time."

Yuugi gulped and pursed his lips, looking down at his feet.

Heba looked from Yuugi to Atemu, and then back to Yuugi. He moved his hand to pat the boy on the shoulder but Yuugi stepped away before he could. Heba's hand fell to his side and he sighed. "Yuugi…we just want to help. We're here for you."

Yuugi looked up and everyone saw the glistening of tears in his eyes. "I know, I'm sorry." He began to back out of the kitchen. "I…I should leave." He turned on his heel and ran out the house. All three of them in the kitchen could hear the door opening and then closing.

Yami began to follow but Heba grabbed his arm to stop him. "Yami…don't," Heba said imploringly.

Yami pulled his arm out of Heba's grip. "Like hell I won't," he said and followed Yuugi out into the street.

He found Yuugi just a block away. He was sitting on the ground, leaning against a chain link fence with his head hidden in his knees. Yami sighed and moved quietly to sit next to him. Yuugi didn't even flinch whenever he felt Yami's presence next to him, he just continued to sit there like a statue.

"Yuugi…" Yami began weakly.

"I don't understand, Yami," Yuugi said brokenly. "I know that everyone is just trying to help me with my problems, but how can they help me if I don't even know what my problems are? It's just…I'm so confused. I just want to crawl in a hole and escape it all."

Yami put an arm around Yuugi's shoulder and the boy leaned into him. "Yuugi, do you find it funny that at the beginning of the year, you hated me?"

Yuugi peaked up, looking at Yami confusedly. "What?"

Yami nodded. "Yeah, you hated me." He chuckled. "I remember you called me an arrogant playboy. I don't really blame you for hating me. But now, I have an arm around you and you are completely fine with that. When did that all change?"

Yuugi remained silent and just leaned his cheek against his knees, waiting and listening.

Yami smiled and looked up at the sky. "It could have been whenever you found out about Atemu and you began to worm into my life. You insisted to know more and more about my own family problems and fixing them when you had your own to deal with." Yami laughed. "And you wouldn't go away. I tried to push you away, I really did, but you're a stubborn one, Yuugi."

Yuugi raised one of his arms and punched Yami's side weakly.

Yami laughed again. "Hey, hey. Anyway, after you found out about Atemu and his illness, you found out about Heba and I think that is when all the trouble started. You were so insistent that you should help Atemu and Heba just because you had a hunch. Now they're together again, happy and healthy." Yami snapped his fingers. "That's another thing! You saved my brother, Yuugi."

Yuugi hid his face in his knees again out of embarrassment.

"No, here me out," Yami said. "If it wasn't for you, I think Atemu would still be sick. But you gave up some of your bone marrow to help Atemu when you only knew him for like a week or two." Yami sighed and leaned against the chain link fence. "You're amazing, Yuugi; you've done so much. Do you want to know what I thought of when I first saw you?"

Yuugi looked up. "That I look so much like Heba."

Yami laughed out loud. "Well, there was that," he agreed jokingly. "When I first saw you," he said, getting serious. "I was still dating Anzu and you were one grade below me. I saw you in the courtyard with Ryou and Bakura and I thought that you were an angel. You're smile was so bright and there just seemed to be this sunny glow around you."

Yami nudged Yuugi and tightened his arm around his shoulder. "And you know what? You are an angel, Yuugi. After everything that you have done for me and my family, you must be one. You know what, I think that is why I did what I did you that one year."

Yuugi looked up in interest. "You mean…um, making…advances on me?"

Yami chuckled. "I guess you could call it that; I would call it worse. Anyway, I didn't want you to get involved with me, because I knew that if Ryou and Bakura got any closer it was bound to happen. I didn't want you to get tangled up in my big mess of a life. So I made sure that you would hate me and always hate me enough to stay clear of me. So…" Yami shrugged. "I did something stupid and I'm sorry; I don't think I have ever apologized for that before so I want to let you know that I am sorry for what I've done to you."

Yuugi pursed his lips and rubbed his eyes. "What does this have to do with anything that is going on in my life right now?"

Yami smiled. "The point of that whole long tangent was to tell you that you are smart and you listen to your heart. You have done all these good things for me and my family just because you were stubborn enough in your beliefs to get involved and fix everything. So stop being so hard on yourself. You'll know what is right when the time comes."

Yuugi chuckled. "You sound like you belong in a Hallmark movie."

Yami rubbed the back of his neck. "Really? I thought that I was doing pretty good."

Yuugi laughed; he looked up at Yami who had a certain happiness in his eyes that he had never seen before. It made Yuugi happy. "Thank you, Yami."

Yami smiled down at Yuugi. "Anytime." He pushed himself to his feet and offered a hand to help Yuugi up. "You want me to take you to visit your grandpa?"

Yuugi took the hand and was pulled to his feet. "No, I'll be okay. I'll see you at the park later today?"

Yami smiled brightly. "Sounds great."

Yuugi walked to the hospital and was directed to his grandpa's room. He saw that the door was open and just peaked his hand inside. His grandpa was watching the gaming channel and yelling at the players who were "as good as a monkey on a unicycle."

Yuugi knocked on the doorframe. "Hi, grandpa."

Suguroku looked up from the TV and saw his grandson in the doorway. "Yuugi! Thank goodness you're here. I have been bored out of my mind; they won't let me out of this darn room!"

Yuugi laughed and sat down in the chair next to his grandpa's bed. "Maybe because you had a heart attack last night?"

Suguroku waved his hand in a dismissing manner. "Pish-posh, I'm as healthy as ever!"

Yuugi raised a questioning eyebrow and shook his head at his grandfather's good-natured jokes.

Suguroku smiled. "I am actually glad that you're here, Yuugi. I wanted to talk to you about something."

Yuugi gulped slightly; he knew that his grandpa would want to talk to him about what happened last night sooner or later, he was just hoping it would be later. "What about?" Yuugi asked.

"Well," Suguroku said, folding his hands on his lap. "You're mother told me that is she gets custody over you than she will take you to Hokkaido."

Yuugi's eyes widened; he didn't know he wanted to talk about _talk_. "Grandpa, I told her that it wasn't a good idea and I…"

"Yuugi," Suguroku said, quickly interrupting. "You don't understand. I agree with her; I think that it is a good idea to live with your mother."

Yuugi gaped; he jumped out of his seat in shock. "Grandpa! How could you think that? What if something like this happens again? Then there will be no one to take care of you or the shop!"

Suguroku waved his hand. "Yuugi, please listen to me; I'm getting old. And I don't want you to worry about a poor old man like me when you should be worrying about your own future. Do you really want to inherit the Game Shop? Don't you want to pursue your own dreams? Besides, I can always go into a nursing home or live with another one of my children."

Yuugi shook his head. "No! I don't want to leave you! I don't want to leave this town, where I was raised! And what about all my friends?"

Suguroku sighed tiredly. "Yuugi, please, I'm tired. Can we continue discussing this some other time? But I just want to let you know I think that it is a very good idea so I would start packing."

-/-

**Ranko: I know, I know! It takes me forever and a day (again) to update and I leave you guys with a cliffhanger! **

**Yami: I liked this chapter. My character isn't a big jackass anymore. **

**Yuugi: What are you doing to my character? I'm falling apart!**

**Ranko: Everything will come together soon! You want to know why? Because next chapter, or the chapter after that, is the last chapter of When Life Gives You Lemons!**

**Yami: What?!**

**Yuugi: Ranko!**

**Ranko: I know, it's so sad. But I was thinking the other day, this story is coming to a closing point. Everyone's life is pretty good and I can't really screw them over anymore so I think that it is time to draw this story to a close. **

**Yami: Review if you want to help kill Ranko. **

**Ranko: Then you'll never see how it ends. **

**Yuugi: Damn it! She's good. **

**Ranko: He-he! Review!**


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